


Flying

by HPOwlLover24



Category: Free!
Genre: A little angst, AU, Fluff, Flying, Multi, Romance, Swimming, cupid!Haru, cupid!Nagisa, failed attempts at matchmaking, if there wasn't there wouldn't be a story, only a tad, pretty much everyone
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-17
Updated: 2015-11-17
Packaged: 2018-01-09 02:45:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 28,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1140514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HPOwlLover24/pseuds/HPOwlLover24
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Haru is about to be stripped of his cupid duties which means no flying and spending eternity in the underworld. Lucky for him, his supervisor is giving him one last chance to meet his quota, but in the mortal world…as a mortal. Without his cupid powers and wings, can he get six people to fall in love?</p><p>Based on this awesome prompt from tumblr: http://marukaprompts.tumblr.com/post/65445083398/zoe-chan-submitted-this-harus-a-cupid-humans</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Striking a Deal

_Flying._

 

The only sensation I knew to be anything worthwhile. The wind roaring in my ears, making it almost impossible for me to hear anything else. The air pushing against me, making my black hair fly back and feathers ruffle. The exhilarating feeling I get, the way I feel I can do _anything._

 

I flapped my wings harder, taking myself higher and higher. The clouds were surrounding me in a bubble of white. I didn’t feel the drop of temperature, nor the water from the clouds. That was the other benefit of being already dead.

 

Yes, I have passed. But to be honest, it does not bother me much. I can’t remember my past at all, no cupid can from my understanding. So I don’t remember what had happened or who I left behind.

 

Besides, if I weren’t dead, I wouldn’t be able to do _this._

 

This is definitely the greatest benefit of being a cupid. The ability to fly. My strong gold wings pulled me through the air currents, and I rode on happily. I did turns and flips and dives, smiling widely after every exhilarating move.

I loved flying more than matchmaking, which is really saying something. I mean I’m a natural matchmaker. I can pair two soul mates easily, but after a while, it gets really boring.

 

I sighed; I was definitely different from the others. But, the other cupids just don’t understand. They’re all too in love with matching couples up. And it's all because they want to fall in love, which is impossible for us! Cupids aren't to fall in love. We lost that privilege when we passed away. So, technically, they're lovesick. I stick out my tongue at the thought. But maybe that’s because I’ve never been interested in that kind of love…

 

“Haru-chan!”

 

I sighed at hearing my nickname from my only friend, well, only friend that I knew of. I’m sure that I had others when I was alive.

 

“What is it Nagisa?” I asked flapping down to land on the ground beside him.

 

The blond gave me a worried look. “Have you met your quota yet? Goro’s been asking me lately and I can’t come up with anymore excuses!” he exclaimed.

 

My eyes widened slightly at the thought. My quota! I haven’t matched anyone with his or her soul mate! Flying has been keeping me busy because that’s all I’ve wanted to do since I had my wings.

 

My wings ruffled slightly, what was I going to do?

 

Nagisa caught my worried expression, his own white wings ruffling because of my predicament. “It’s okay!” he said hurriedly, “Maybe we can get you to match three people before Goro-“

 

“HARU!”

 

We flinched and looked to the sky. Flapping his brown wings above us, frowning, was our boss, Goro.

 

He landed beside us and gave Nagisa a pointed look. Nagisa took that as his cue to leave. He launched himself into the sky and disappeared behind the clouds.

 

I gulped slightly and looked at Goro. He didn’t seem mad, but he didn’t look happy either. “Goro-“ I started.

 

He held up his hand and I fell silent. Goro looked at me and then at his clipboard that he always carried around. After flipping a few pages, he paused and stared at the page. He handed me that clipboard, showing me what was on the page. It was my name and a picture of me, followed by a lot of other information like my day of death, that day I joined the cupids, wingspan, etc. But what caught my attention was the red zero followed by four black lines at the bottom of the page.

 

I looked up at Goro, “What’s this?”

 

He sighed and looked at me, “That, Haru, is your quota for the last couple of terms. You haven’t met four and this going to be your fifth miss. You know what that means.”

 

My eyes widened and I could feel myself turning pale. “No. You can’t take my wings! This is all I have now!” My heart began racing and my wings twitched in my fright.

 

“Haru, I can’t help it. This is Eros’ rule not mine. If you aren’t going to do your job we have to fill up the position with cupids who will.” He looked up at me and then at the ground, “I like you kid, you know a good match when you see it and you’re a hell of a flyer, but this can’t be helped. I’m sorry.”

 

I could feel my heart beating faster. What was I going to do? I couldn’t go to the underworld and do nothing for the rest of eternity! I had to keep my wings. Flying was the only thing that mattered anymore. I can’t just let this happen!

 

I looked around. No one was around. We were standing on a hill, somewhere near an ocean. Or maybe we were near a cliff. The sky was a pale blue filed with white puffy clouds that passed over us lazily.

 

Would this be my last look at the sky?

 

No. I was going to keep my wings. “Goro,” I spoke.

 

He looked up at me, sadness in eyes. Despite his muscular stature, he was a very nice man and he knew about love. He wasn’t a supervisor for nothing.

 

“Give me a chance to make this right. I can meet the quota. You know I can,” I stated calmly. I tried to slow down my breathing and calm my racing heart. This was my only chance. If Goro didn’t help I would be done.

 

Goro scratched the back of his head, “You know I can’t do that Haru. Eros will have my wings for it.”

 

“But wouldn’t Eros be more happy and accepting because there are three more people out there that are matched with their soul mate?” I argued. “Besides, the term isn’t completely over yet, and you are allowed to give extensions.”

 

Goro laughed, “That determined, are you?” I gave him a steady stare, my blue eyes boring into his brown. He sighed, the smile fading from his face, “Yes, you are. Well, you are right about the extension, but we’re going to have to go through some special terms for you.”

 

I nodded, “Fine, I can do it.”

 

Goro stared at me. He began circling me, looking at me from all angles. I stood still, allowing him.

 

Goro stood in front of me again and clapped his hands together. “Alright, I’ll make you a deal.”

 

I nodded. This is it. He’s giving me a chance!

 

“You know, as well as every other cupid, that we all lost our memories of our past lives when we passed. Although you did lose your memory, you haven’t been deceased long meaning that someone could possibly recognize you.”

 

He stopped talking for a moment so I took this moment to speak. “Why are you talking about all this? A cupid is supposed to be invisible anyways. No one will be able to see me.”

 

Goro sighed again, “Haru, I’m going to have to strip you of your wings and send you to the mortal world. Now before you say something,” he started, because I was showing all signs of interrupting, “it’s only temporary. I will gladly give you your wings back and all of your power as a cupid once you complete this assignment.”

 

I nodded. I didn’t say anything though. I was going to be without my wings…

 

Goro continued speaking, “It is now the beginning of April, I will give you until August to match three people to their soul mate. August fifteenth at noon to be exact.”

 

I nodded, “Where?”

 

Goro shrugged his shoulders, “Doesn’t matter.”

 

“Who?”

 

Goro shrugged again, “Doesn’t matter either. You can choose the who and the where. You just have to make it happen by the deadline.”

 

I nodded, but felt the panic building inside of me. A little under five month to get six people to fall in love…this was beginning to look impossible.

 

But I can’t just go to the underworld.

 

“I accept the terms. When will I begin?”

 

“Right now.” And everything went black.

 

 

I woke up to a black sky and the sound of the ocean. Someone was shaking me awake.

 

“Are you alright?” and then I heard a small gasp of surprise.

 

I looked around and saw the face of a young man, no much older than me. He had light brown hair and a soft, albeit shocked, expression on his face. He was wearing a green, white-spotted tie with a white button shirt.

 

But his eyes are what held me.

 

They were so incredibly green and _familiar_.

 

My head began to throb painfully and I groaned putting a hand to my head.

 

“It’s alright, I got you,” the young man said while helping me into a sitting position.

 

I closed my eyes and thought for a second. I had no idea where I was. Nor how I got here. I couldn’t feel my wings, so Goro must have taken them.

I stiffened, my eyes flying open in realization. I’m in the _mortal world!_

 

I jumped to my feet and immediately felt dizzy. The man steadied me, catching my shoulders before I could fall. “Where am I?” I asked him.

 

“You’re at the beach of Iwatobi, Japan,” the man answered.

 

My head throbbed harder now. “I thought you said I could choose,” I grumbled.

 

“What?”

 

“Er…nothing. Can you-“ but my voice caught as my knees buckled. The man caught me again, his arms wrapped around my torso bringing me closer to his chest.

_That warmth…_

 

He blushed and steadied me like before. “Do you need help getting home?” he asked.

 

I couldn’t think clearly with the pounding in my head. My eyes were straining to stay open so I could communicate and not blackout again. My breathing was becoming labored and I tried to steady it. “Uh…I don’t have anywhere to go,” I admitted, slowly.

 

The man gave me a smile and I could feel my heart beating faster. Damn Goro for knocking me out. I couldn’t even think straight. “Well, my family can help you. I’m Makoto by the way. Makoto Tachibana.”

 

My eyes got heavier as my head throbbed painfully. My eyes began to water at the pain. “I-I’m going to blackout again.”

 

And, unfortunately, I did.

 

I am going to _kill_ Goro.

 

 

When I awoke the second time, I was laying in an unknown bed, in an unknown room. I looked around and saw a lot of pictures and posters on the walls. Posters of swimmers hung everywhere. And there were several pictures of groups or couples everywhere. I couldn’t tell who was in them, but there were several. There were what appeared to be swimming trunks on a dresser and towels next to it.

 

I turned my head to look out the window and almost screamed in surprise.

 

“Hey, kid, how are you feeling?” Goro asked.

 

I narrowed my eyes, “Why the hell did you knock me out?”

 

Goro rolled his eyes, “Because, kid, you would have cheated. You would have wanted to go to France or America where it’s easy to pair people up. Instead, I knocked you out and had your subconscious choose the place for you.”

 

I frowned, he saw right through me. “But why did I choose here?”

 

Goro shrugged, “Hey don’t ask me. I’m not you. Anyways, I don’t have much time. I came here to explain a few more things I forgot to tell you.”

 

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. At least my aching headache was gone. “Oh great, more deadlines,” I grumbled.

 

Goro chuckled, his wings shaking. “No, Haru, no more deadlines. You have a big enough one already. I need to tell you that I had to change your appearance just in case you run into anyone that you knew. They may recognize you. The last thing we need are parents thinking their child came back from the dead.

_Not that my parents would care, they weren’t even living with me,_ I thought.

 

I sat up straight. Where did that come from?

 

I shook my head and held out my hand for a mirror that Goro handed me. I looked at my reflection. My hair wasn’t its usual black and straight but instead curly and dark brown with light streaks of gold that you saw only when looking at it from the right angle. My nose was a little shorter and my lips fatter. I realized that I stretched also in height, maybe two or three inches. The only thing that stayed the same were my eyes. They were still bright blue.

 

“Thanks for not changing all of me,” I said as I handed back the mirror.

 

Goro nodded and patted my shoulder, “No problem. So you should probably change your name as well. And, if you were alive, you’d be seventeen, so that’s a good age to be at.”

 

I nodded, “So am I doing this on my own? I can’t contact you at all?”

 

Goro gave me a smile, “Actually, Nagisa decided he wanted to be apart of your case. He’s going to be my informant on how things are going for you. While still performing his cupid duties.”

 

I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. Nagisa. I could always rely on him, no matter how annoying he turned out to be sometimes.

 

I was about to ask about the throbbing headache when there was a knock at the door. I looked at Goro but he had vanished.

 

“Come in,” I called out.

 

The man from last night, Makoto, came in. He had a smile on his face when he saw me sitting up, “Ah, feeling better?”

 

I nodded, “Yes, thank you for your kindness.”

 

Makoto waved it off, “Don’t worry about it…”

 

“Isoya,” I said, saying the first name that popped into my head. “My name is Isoya Asuka.”

 

Makoto chuckled a little. I didn’t catch the joke. “What?”

 

“Looks like we have something in common,” he said, coming to sit on the bed.

 

I looked at him.

 

He sighed and gave me another smile, “We, along with my other friends, have girl names even though we are boys.”

 

I tried to hide my blush that I could feel rising on my cheeks. I turned my head away from him, “Shut up.” How could I choose a girl’s name? Of all names?

 

Makoto let out a little noise, and returned my gaze to him. I saw something flash in his eyes, but couldn’t make out what it was.

 

I raised an eyebrow at him.

 

He blinked and cleared his throat. I could tell he was forcing that small smile that now was on his face. “Tomorrow is Monday, so I guess you’ll be going to school with me. How old are you?” he asked me.

 

“Seventeen,” I answered.

 

Makoto forced another smile, “Looks like we’ll be in the same class.” He looked around the room and asked, “Do you still not know where you are?”

 

“No,” I responded, slowly. I didn't want to lie to him. Makoto seemed very nice, but I couldn't exactly tell him what I was. Besides, it's also against the rules to expose yourself to a mortal. Eros absolutely forbids with only one exception. But no one knew what that exception was because it hasn't been used in a millennia.

 

He nodded, as if expecting my answer, “Well, this is my room, so I can bring out an inflatable mattress and you are more than welcome to stay here.”

 

Unconsciously, I gripped the sheets. The idea of staying here until this was done made me feel comfortable, safe even. “What about your parents?” I questioned.

 

The smile really left his face as he stared at his feet, “They won’t mind.”

 

I was about to say something else when my stomach gave an almighty roar.

 

Makoto laughed, “You must be hungry. Here,” he said standing up and handing me some clothes. “You look about my size. Put this on and we can go get something to eat.”

 

I nodded wordlessly as he walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.

 

I didn’t move for a couple of seconds. I was in the mortal world, in a place I don’t know about, with a guy who found me passed out on the beach. I gave a bitter sigh.

 

This is already going fantastically. 


	2. Noticing

I stood quite still in front of the mirror, studying my new reflection. When Goro said he changed my appearance, he really meant it. I understood his reasoning behind it, and I know my face had changed, but this?

 

I was definitely taller, and not the two or three inches I had guessed. I was at least six inches taller than before. I was at least six foot three. But I was also more built. I don’t know why Goro wanted to add some muscle to me, as I wasn’t going to be doing anything but matchmaking.

 

I sighed and focused again on the image in the mirror. I couldn’t exactly call it me, but the eyes were definitely still there. The brownish curls on top of my head were incredibly unruly, and I didn’t like the misbehavior. My black hair would always just hang there, these curls tickled my ears and fell in my eyes. And my lips look as if someone punched me or I’ve been kissing productively. Neither of which is true.

 

I finished buttoning the white shirt that Makoto had let me borrow, it fit perfectly. He was as tall and built as I am, except maybe an inch taller. Whatever. He had noticed that I, obviously, had nothing so lent me clothes; a few shirts and shorts and a school uniform. Along with a tie.

 

The tie hung on my shoulder and I glared at it. I didn’t know how to tie the damn thing.

 

There was a knock at the bathroom door. “Isoya?” It was Makoto.

 

I hesitated then opened the door to see him standing there, backpack hanging on his back. “Ready to go?” he asked. He looked exactly as he did when he found me the other night, in his school uniform and hair messy. Yet, the look in his eye seemed even sadder.

 

I sighed, best to not question this now, and nodded. Grabbing my bag along the way, we headed out the door. Everyone else had left earlier this morning.

 

The morning sun was bright, but there was a slight breeze blowing. The smell of spring was fresh in the air with flowers blooming and the sound of birds chirping. The Cupid in me admired the beauty, but then I noticed something. There were many cats outside and I couldn’t help but look at them all, “Why are they all here?” The felines were everywhere; in trees, on the sidewalk, on the steps, around houses.

 

Makoto shrugged, “They’re all strays, I suppose.” He studied the cats and continued forward. While we were walking, a small white cat jumped out in front of us. Makoto smiled and gave it a few pats before continuing forward. The cat meowed, but Makoto kept walking.

 

That was very odd, and I couldn’t exactly explain why I thought it was. “Are you alright?” I asked him, turning my head in his direction.

 

He didn’t answer and I couldn’t help but feel a little concern for him. We were suddenly walking alongside the beach. The breeze swept the smell of the ocean towards us and immediately I felt more relaxed. The sun made the water sparkle. I noticed Makoto look out across the beach to the ocean. There seemed to be that sad look in his eye again as he stared at the water. Which made me wonder…

 

“Why were you at the beach last night?” I asked him.

 

He glanced at me then averted his eyes, but not before I caught the grief that was obviously there. “I was only thinking,” he replied. “We better hurry or we’ll be late. And technically this is your first day.”

 

I nodded, not saying anything. Avoidance.

 

I decided to focus on the task at hand. I needed to match three people to their soul mates. It should be easy enough…I’m going to a high school. People always meet their soul mates there. Not to mention all the raging hormones that would be there. Maybe this assignment would be easier than I thought.

 

Makoto led the way into the school. I expected to immediately be buzzing with energy. My cupid powers were some of the strongest, alerting me to even the slightest prospects of love.

 

I felt nothing.

 

I looked around in wonder. Was nobody here? Impossible. I could see all the teenagers walking around, flirting, joking, holding hands, studying…

 

Why weren’t my powers working?

 

I tried not to panic, taking slow breaths. Okay, the powers must have come with the wings. Being without my wings meant that I didn’t have any powers. Great…

 

 _And Goro couldn’t have mentioned that?_ I thought angrily.

 

“Haru-chan!”

 

I stiffened and noticed Makoto do the same. I looked around and saw a small blonde running up to me.

_Nagisa?_

 

I kept the smile off of my face. I noticed Makoto was staring at me, “What did he just call you?”

 

Uh-oh. I tried to give Makoto a smile, “Uh…nothing. He’s my distant cousin. I forgot he moved here. I’ll be back.” I left Makoto standing there and met Nagisa before he could reach Makoto. People cast us second glances, seeming to notice that we were both new.

 

“Haru-chan I-“

 

“Be quiet!” I whispered. I grabbed his arm and pulled him down the next hallway. There was an open door off to my left. Noticing no one in there after peeking inside, I dragged Nagisa inside and closed the door.

 

Before I could turn around, I was engulfed in a hug by the over-eager blonde. “I missed you! I was so worried,” Nagisa started saying.

 

I smiled slightly and tried to push him away from me. I gave him an incredulous look, “What are you doing here? Goro told me you’d be helping him, but I didn’t expect you to actually _be here_.”

 

Nagisa gave me a very large smile, “I couldn’t just let you do this alone! Beside I wanted to be a part of the mortal world too Haru.”

 

I sighed, “Well thanks, but don’t call me Haru. I had to change my name to Isoya.” I began playing with the hem of Makoto’s tie, which was still just hanging off my shoulders. I didn’t like the way Makoto seemed to recognize the name. Did he know a Haru?

 

Nagisa nodded and looked me over, “Well, yeah, that’s not the only thing you changed.” He frowned.

 

I rolled my eyes, “It’s not like I could have helped it. Goro did it all. Anyways, how did you know I was here?”

 

Nagisa smiled, “I figured you would be in the high school. Easiest place to match people up! And Goro told me you were here in this city.”

 

I leaned against the wall, well maybe Nagisa can help match people up. I mean, without my powers. My eyes were closed as I concentrated, but I was soon interrupted, “So who was that cute boy you were with?”

 

My eyes flew open, “Makoto.” I almost forgot!

 

I pulled open the door and rushed back down the hallway to find the young man. Makoto was still standing where I left him, only now he was talking to a red head. I slowed and approached cautiously. Makoto was chuckling slightly at something the other had just said.

 

The red head noticed my approach. “Who are you?” he asked, bluntly.

 

“Isoya,” I answered just as short. For some reason, the red head lit something inside me. I didn’t feel as comfortable around him as I did with Makoto.

 

The red head narrowed his eyes at me and then glanced over my shoulder. Nagisa appeared there a second later. “You could’ve dragged me along, Isoya,” he gasped slightly. Cupids weren’t meant for running.

 

I noticed Makoto look at Nagisa quizzically, his eyes narrowing slightly, as if trying to figure something out. I cleared my throat, “Makoto this is my cousin, Nagisa. He just moved here from Tokyo.” I ignored the red head.

 

Nagisa straightened and smiled widely at Makoto, “Hi.”

 

Makoto forced a smile on his face, “Hello.” He turned to me, “Will you be staying with him then?” I didn’t like the way he looked at me, or said that. Was I bothering him?

 

“Er…” I hadn’t even thought about that. Did Nagisa even have a place to stay in?

 

Nagisa interrupted my train of thought, “Oh, H- I mean, Isoya can’t stay with me. My family is still moving in and we can’t have Isoya there yet.”

 

I shot Nagisa a look. This boy is going to get me in trouble.

 

“Well, it’s alright, Isoya can stay with me,” Makoto said. I nodded at him and he gave me a small smile, one that didn’t seem so strained.

 

The bell rang overhead. All around us, students took off to their first lesson. “I’ll see you at lunch Isoya,” Nagisa took off down the hall. Where was he going?

 

“See you, Makoto,” the red head said.

 

Makoto nodded, “Goodbye Rin.”

 

The red head, Rin, shot me one more glance before heading in the opposite direction of Nagisa.

 

Makoto gestured to the hallway in front of us, “Our class would be this way.”

 

I followed him and was jostled by several students heading in the opposite direction. I tried to reach out, mentally, to see if I could sense any soul mates, but my powers wouldn’t spring forth. I sighed softly, I suppose I would have to be doing this the old fashion way. Damn Goro.

 

“Is something wrong?”

 

I looked up and noticed Makoto glancing back at me wearing a concerned expression.

 

I turned my head to the right to hide my eyes. “No, I’m fine.”

 

I needed to talk to Nagisa. Maybe he still has his cupid powers? They aren’t as strong as mine were, but he could lead me in the right direction.

 

Makoto put a hand on my shoulder and we stopped walking. I looked at him and he gave me small smile. “Do you need help with your tie?” he asked, pointing to it.

 

I had forgotten all about the stupid thing, so worried I was with my assignment. I glared at it trying to fight down the blush I could feel building up. I nodded.

 

Makoto stepped forward and took the tie in both of his hands. While he was tying it properly, I stared at him. He had apparent frown lines on his face and bags under his eyes. He shoulders sagged slightly, but not enough to alert anyone who wasn’t staring. But his eyes told the real story.

 

His eyes were incredibly sad. At the moment, they held no true warmth nor the slightest sign of happiness.

 

Makoto stepped back and looked at me, “There. You’ll have to learn how to do it, you know.”

 

I turned my head away, relieved that he didn’t notice my staring, “That requires effort.”

 

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed him smile. I tried not to smile in return.

 

“Class?” I asked.

 

Makoto nodded and walked through a door off to our left. Immediately, the sound of chattering and laughter assaulted my ears. I watched as Makoto walked up to the instructor smiling his fake smile and indicating to me. The young lady gave a bright smile and nodded. Makoto motioned for me to follow him. He pointed at the desk beside him, “You can sit there, no one sits there anymore.”

 

I looked at him, but he avoided my eyes again.

 

The rest of class was boring, and I couldn’t help but think I shouldn’t be in these classes. I need to work on my assignment. Besides, when am I going to be using arithmetic in my Cupid duties?

 

I had no idea how bored I was until it was time for lunch and I was incredibly relieved to leave the classroom. I followed Makoto as he led me to where his group usually ate-the roof. Nagisa was already here talking to the red head, and two others. How he got here, I had no idea, but at least I can talk to him without having to go hunt him down.

 

One of the others had what looked like white hair, and an extremely young looking face. He was small in stature, also. He hung on every word that was being spoken by the red head. Hmm…

 

Nagisa was practically hanging off the other boy. He was tall and looked extremely athletic. His violet hair shined with the sun and he kept pushing up his red glasses.

 

“Hello,” Makoto greeted, “Rei, Rin, Nitori, this is Isoya.” He introduced us. Rin, the red head, shot me a glance, but went back to his food, Rei gave a respectful nod in my direction and Nitori gave me a wide smile.

 

Makoto sighed and looked around, “Where is Gou?”

 

Nitori gave a small little giggle and Rin stiffened. “She’s attempting to make a joint practice with Samezuka,” Rei answered him. He shot Rin a glance then added, “She’s talking to Siejurro.”

 

Makoto frowned and looked at the clear blue sky, “But it’s April, so it’s not like we need to use an indoor pool.”

 

“Something about competition,” Rin growled.

 

Rei glanced in his direction again. “That makes sense. Think about it Makoto, we need it for August…” Rei said trailing off.

 

Makoto nodded, “Yeah, I suppose.”

 

I was lost. Apparently, so was Nagisa, and he _hates_ being left out of the loop. “What’s all this talk about pools and competition?” Nagisa asked loudly.

 

Rei pushed up his glasses, “Nagisa, please quiet down. We’re all a part of the high school swimming team.”

 

“Oh,” Nagisa said.

 

“Yeah, the losing swim team,” Rin growled.

 

“Rin…” Rein said, his tone warning.

 

“What? It’s true! Ever since we lost-“

 

“Senapi!” Nitori yelped.

 

Rin stopped and shot a glance to Makoto. Makoto was staring intently at his food, not saying a word.

 

There was a slight tension around the group now. I gave Nagisa a look, “Nagisa, can I talk to you?” Grabbing his arm, I pulled him away from the group. “I’m going to need your help,” I told him quietly.

 

Nagisa raised his eyebrows in surprise. “What? You’re the best Cupid out there! Why would you need my help?”

 

“I-” I sighed, admitting this was harder than I thought.

 

“Just spit it out, Haru-chan,” Nagisa said.

 

“Quiet,” I whispered frantically. I looked over my shoulder. The others were still discussing their swimming practices. “I don’t have my powers anymore. Well, at least not the flying and love searching powers. So, you have to help me with the match-making,” I finished.

 

Nagisa stared at me in shock and didn’t say anything. “Please Nagisa. I need to be able to fly again,” I begged.

 

Nagisa nodded. He can be quite serious when he wants to be. “You know I don’t have power like you, but I can definitely feel when there are some mates around. I just won’t be able to tell you who.” He smiled, “Don’t worry, Haru-chan, I’ll be able to help you.”

 

Nagisa looked back at the group, a girl with red hair and a boy with bright red hair had just joined the group. Nagisa's eyes brightened and his expression became devious. "And I know just who to start with."

 

I gave Nagisa a small smile, and we walked back to the group.


	3. Swimming

“Nagisa, this isn’t working,” I said. I felt incredibly ridiculous. I couldn’t believe that I had even agreed to this.

 

“Hush, Haru-chan,” Nagisa quieted me and walked around the table, sitting beside me. “You’ll never be approached with that attitude.” He gave me a large smile and I grumbled quietly to myself.

 

Currently, I was stationed outside of the school with Nagisa. We were trying to get, or actually Nagisa was I was currently sulking (obviously), people to get a chance to “meet their true love” with Guru Isoya. We were actually cheating a little though, Nagisa was only talking to those that he could feel a “pull” with.

 

To be honest, that wasn’t the problem, that is my job after all. No, what the problem was was Nagisa’s insistence on the cheesy banner that currently hung in front of us.

 

It was a little refreshing to draw again when I think about it, I haven’t drawn since…I scratched my chin lightly. Actually, since when could I draw? The only thing I knew how to do was fly and match make.

 

Nagisa was currently trying to reign people in from his spot beside me, loudly I might add. So I let my thoughts wander. Since when could I draw?

 

I had noticed that a few of my classmates earlier obviously recognized it somehow. Maybe I was an artist before I passed?

 

This was slowly growing to annoy me. All day I’ve been performing simple actions that some people recognized and would ask if they had met me before. Especially when I was drawing the banner for Nagisa. _And_ people questioned my female-like name.

 

I was still upset at myself for that one.

 

Suddenly, visions of green and a pool and a penguin flashed across my mind. I was so surprised that I fell out of my chair, falling to the hard concrete. A headache soon followed, making my thoughts incoherent. The visions were gone as soon as they had come.

 

“Isoya?”

 

I turned to the panicked tone and saw Makoto above me with a worried expression. Nagisa beside him was wearing an anxious one.

 

“I’m fine,” I responded, avoiding both of their gazes.

 

Makoto held out his hand and I gratefully accepted. As I was pulled up, my head ached harder than ever before, a blinding pain shooting through my entire head. The sensation of water was around me, but…wait. Was I flying?

 

“Ugh…” my knees buckled and I fell, but someone caught me. I looked around. No I wasn’t flying. Makoto was holding me up. I blinked, the feeling of water was gone.

 

“Are you sure, you’re alright Isoya?” Makoto asked.

 

I released him, blushing, and tried to straighten up. He kept his hands on my shoulder to steady me. Why was this happening to me? How could I match the souls necessary if I kept having these annoying visions?

 

“Yes, thank you.” I stood by myself this time.

 

Makoto nodded and looked at Nagisa, “What’s all this?” He gestured to the table and banner we had occupied for the last half hour.

 

Nagisa removed his wide eyes from me and looked at our table, “Ah! Yes well Isoya was helping me with a hobby of mine.” He quickly went to put away the ridiculous table sign and gather his things.

 

“Practice over?” I asked Makoto, turning his attention away from Nagisa.

 

Makoto shook his head, “We’re done warming up here, we’re headed to another school for a joint practice.” He thought for a second then added, “You’re welcome to come along.”

 

I did not understand why I was desperately wanting to say yes the second Makoto asked, or why my heart was speeding up. So instead I didn’t say anything for a second, to make sure I was composed.

 

But Makoto smiled, “I suppose that’s a yes.”

 

“Gah…” I gasped softly. I turned my head away to hide my reddening cheeks. How did he know that was what I so desperately wanted to say?

 

Makoto chuckled, “Ne, how about you, Nagisa?”

 

“Yeah! That sounds fun!” The small blonde was practically jumping for joy.

 

Rin came forward at that moment and placed a hand on Makoto’s shoulder. My eyes narrowed slightly at the lingering touch and the smile Rin and Makoto shared. “Are you ready to go? Gou is getting impatient.”

 

Makoto nodded, “Yes, Nagisa and Isoya are coming too.”

 

Rin looked at me with a slightly angry expression, or maybe that was his normal facial expression. Then turned to Makoto, “Alright, that’s no problem man.” Makoto smiled at Rin.

 

Next thing I knew, we were with the Iwatobi team at the other school, Samezuka, being approached by a tall man with flaming red hair.

 

“Makoto, Rin, nice of your team to visit again,” the man said, while throwing a wink at Gou.

 

“Mikoshiba,” Rin growled.

 

“Seijuro,” Gou stepped forward, interrupting her brother, “ready for the joint?” She gave him a wide smile.

 

Seijuro nodded, a faint blush on his cheek. My eyes narrowed slightly, not enough for anyone to notice anyways, calculating. What’s this? Is this what Nagisa was speaking of earlier?

 

I took this time to look around and get a handle on the surroundings. The place was extremely large. The pool took up most of the ground space. There were platforms on one end where most of the swimmers were gathered before the practice began. The entire placed smelled like chlorine, and, before I knew it, I was breathing in deeply.

 

Suddenly, someone grabbed my arm and was dragging me away from Makoto’s side. “Eh…?”

 

“But he has no suit,” I heard Makoto saying.

 

Seijuro shrugged, “We will lend him one. It is practice after all. And you all need to get better.”

 

Rin continued his talk with Seijuro as Makoto rushed to my side. “Sorry Isoya, we need you to practice with us if you’re going to stay.” Makoto followed me and another boy to Samezuka’s locker room. I was quickly handed a suit to change into and the boy quickly walked out of the locker room.

 

I went behind a wall of lockers, away from the Makoto’s line of vision, and stripped my clothes and slid the suit on. The feeling of this suit was unpleasant but oddly familiar. I stepped into view with my clothes in my hand and decided to place them with Makoto’s things.

 

“Is it alright?” Makoto questioned.

 

“It feels strange. Like the wrong fit.” I shook my head as another headache began pounding. “Let’s go.”

 

We joined the others and I noticed most everybody else was already swimming. The small one…Nitori?...was already being pulled out of the pool by Rin with a wide smile.

 

The prolonged hand touch did not go unnoticed by a trained eye.

 

“Isoya, you know how to swim, yes?”

 

I jerked my head. No, but I can’t say that now. It was too late. I cursed internally.

 

Makoto led me to the platform, “You’ll be against one of Samezuka’s best, but don’t worry about that. This is only to see where we’re timed at, yeah?”

 

I nodded, accepting the cap and goggles from Makoto. I slid them on easily and stepped onto the raised platform.

 

Suddenly, it was as if I was somewhere else. My body was instantly at ease as I bent at the waist, gripping the tip of the platform lightly. Instinctively, I put my right foot slightly behind my left.

 

_It’s for a good kick off._

 

The whistle blew and I was in the water.

 

It was indescribable. I was flowing, riding on the waves of the water. My hands stretching in front of me, pulling me forward, pulling me through the opening in the water I was creating. My legs were giving powerful kicks behind me, propelling me forward. Every so often my head broke the surface to gasp at air.

 

Then my body tensed, and I was rolling in the water, kicking hard off the wall, going back the way I had came.

 

I was flying.

 

It was over too soon. I stopped at the wall pulling the cap and goggles off, shaking my hair loose.

 

I climbed out of the pool and that’s when I noticed it.

 

Everyone staring at me.

 

“That was beautiful,” I heard-what was it-Rei say.

 

Seijuro came forward with a large smile, clasping my shoulder, “How did you do that?”

 

I shied away from his touch, grunting, “Mm?”

 

Rin came forward, “You beat their second best swimmer.” He was giving me a curious look.

 

I then noticed the swimmer in question panting behind Seijuro.

 

Nitori also came forward with a look of awe. “I haven’t seen amazing natural swimming ability since-ugh.” Rin elbowed him gently in the side glancing at Makoto. Nitori blushed slightly, “How did you do that?”

 

“I…” I looked around and caught Makoto’s eye.

 

Makoto had a strange look in his eye. Pain and bewilderment. But he understood and came forward. “Beginner’s luck,” and he gently grabbed my shoulders, leading me to Iwatobi’s side.

 

Makoto left me with Nagisa and Gou before going over to the platform himself. Nagisa bumped me away from Gou while she watched Makoto’s performance, a notebook and pen in her hands.

 

“How did you do that?” the little blonde whispered.

 

I shrugged, not answering instead staring at Makoto. He was focusing solely on his chance to begin swimming. He was staring at the water intensely, concentrating. I found myself staring at his form. His back muscles were extremely profound and the long, black and green swimsuit showed off his leg muscles. He was bent over at the waist and he was gripping the platform loosely. His right foot back also set slightly behind his left.

 

Makoto had great form, but the look on his face… He seemed to not want to be swimming at all. He glared at the water. _That wasn’t concentration_ , I corrected myself, _that’s something else._

 

The whistle blew and I turned my attention back to Nagisa. “I don’t know how I did that,” I replied in hushed tones, “but I loved the way it felt. I felt like I was flying.”

 

Nagisa frowned slightly at the tone my voice had taken. “Flying? But Haru-chan,” he lowered his voice to just above a whisper, “you don’t have your wings. How can you be flying?”

 

I shrugged again. I turned back to the pool and saw Makoto climbing out of the pool. My eyes strayed to his exposed muscles and water falling down his back.

 

I shook my head and turned my attention back to Nagisa, “How did you not end up having to swim?”

 

He gave me a sheepish smile, “I…uh. That is, I said I was the assistant manager when we were being introduced.” His cheeks were dusted a light pink and I could tell he felt embarrassed for me.

 

I gave him a small smile and he brightened immediately. “It’s alright. I enjoyed the swimming.”

 

I stood beside Nagisa as Rin took his turn to be tested for times, Nitori cheering for him on the side. The rest of Iwatobi was talking about the necessary win they need at the next tournament.

 

“But Makoto-senpai,” Rei was saying, “we need a stronger breast swimmer. You and I are fine on the backstroke and butterfly for the relay. And Rin-senpai is definitely strong with the free style. But Nitori-kun is not doing so well with the breast part. He is a great long distance free swimmer and should focus solely on that.”

 

Nagisa gave me a look. We continued listening.

 

Makoto nodded, toweling off his face. “Rin could definitely be just as powerful doing the breast and maybe we could put Nitori in the free style.”

 

Rei shook his head, “Nitori-kun isn’t that strong in the short distance.” He glanced behind Makoto, and I looked behind me. What was he looking at?

 

Makoto shook his head and said in a warning tone, “Rei.” And he continued off in a whisper.

 

Nagisa nudged me with his arm, “What do you think that was about?”

 

I glanced behind me again. On seeing nothing, I turned my attention back to Nagisa, “I don’t know.” I turned my gaze to the water. “But I do want to swim again.”

 

 

I stepped into Makoto’s room after my shower. The water helped calm my thoughts after the swimming practice today.

 

Makoto was lying on his bed and staring up at the ceiling. He didn’t move when I entered the room and fell on the inflatable mattress he set up for me.

 

We lied there in silence for a while before he spoke up, “Isoya?”

 

I turned my head in his direction, “Yes?”

 

“Where did you learn to swim like that?” His voice was slightly strained and I could tell he was forcing this question. Why was this causing him pain?

 

I shrugged, “I guess I always could.”

 

He sighed, “I haven’t seen anyone swim like that since my best friend.” His voice cracked at the end and I decided against pushing the subject.

 

We didn’t say anything for a couple of seconds then Makoto spoke again. “Do you like swimming? Because a few of the other members wouldn’t mind if you joined the swim club.”

 

My heart began to speed up again. Join the swim team? Yes! That would be incredible! I would be able to swim again!

 

Oh, and match up Gou and that captain from Samezuka, Seijuro. And maybe Rin with…Makoto? They seemed close enough to be in _that_ kind of relationship, like Gou and Seijuro. But, why did this make me clench my fist at the thought?

 

“Isoya?”

 

I shook my head of those thoughts and concentrated on answering Makoto. “Yes, I can join.”

 

I sat up to catch Makoto nodding his head with a slight smile on his face. Maybe I should ask? I mean, it’ll make my job a lot easier.

 

“Makoto,” I started slowly. “Do you like Rin?”

 

Makoto nodded, not realizing I could see him. “Yeah, he’s a great friend. He’s helped me an awful lot though some recent difficult times. He’s a great swimmer and-”

 

“No,” I interrupted him. I studied his face quietly. The moon shinning light in from one of his windows allowed him to be slightly visible. His smile was still apparent on his face. He seemed relaxed. Could that mean a yes? “Do you _like_ him?”

 

Suddenly, he tensed. Nervousness? “Uh…I, well, I don’t- gosh.” He brought his hands to his face, hiding it. So, I read his body language. He was still tense. And, if I didn’t know any better, he was blushing under his hands.

 

“It’s complicated Isoya,” Makoto sighed, dropping his hands from his face. “I lost my best friend in a freak drowning accident a few years ago. He was my second half, at least I thought he was, I never talked to him about it. I was too content with what we had. He was always there for me and we really cared for each other. But then I lost him. I regret not saying anything now.” His voice cracked again and I could see his cheeks shinning.

 

Was he crying?

 

I got off the inflatable mattress and went to his bed. Sitting beside him, I patted his knee. Makoto looked at me and looked back to the ceiling. “After he was gone, Rin sort of helped me through it. He was always there, the most reliable person.” He sighed, “And, at the beginning of last year, my parents started arguing. At first, it was nothing bad, you know? Just little titters against what we should have for dinner or stuff about money. But then it got worse. I got the brunt of it because I tried to shield my two younger siblings from it. I don’t want them to see it in case it ends badly. They’re so young. And there he was again; Rin trying to help me. But it took him a while to figure it out. I don’t like sharing things you see, but when he found out about that, he tried.”

 

Makoto sighed, “I don’t know if I _like_ him. But I am grateful he’s my friend.”

 

Makoto let out a shaky laugh, “I’m sorry Isoya. I have no idea why I am unleashing all of this on you. I usually talk to Rin, if I even have to talk about it.” He looked at me, “You’re just easy to talk to.”

 

I looked at him and gave him a small smile. “Don’t worry, Makoto.”

 

His green eyes bore into my blue ones, and I found myself unable to look away. I was caught, trapped in his gaze.

 

Makoto smiled then and said, “Well thank you, Isoya. But we should probably get to bed.”

 

I nodded, tearing my gaze away from his. I got off his bed and slipped onto the inflated mattress. Staring at the ceiling, I covered myself and thought about nothing for a while.

 

I fell asleep and began to dream.

 

_“Come on, Haru-chan,” Makoto was saying beside me._

 

_I rolled my eyes slightly and said, “Drop the chan.”_

 

_We began our walk to the pool. Excitement washed through me when I saw it. Makoto placed a hand on my shoulder and I turned to look at him. “As promised. Now you can swim all you want, ne?” he smiled._

 

_I gave him a small smile and nodded. “Thank you, Makoto.”_

 

_I dove in and was engulfed by the water. Riding the slight current, I swam below the surface for a while, allowing my senses to relax and feel nothing but the water surrounding me._

 

_I broke the surface and took a deep breath, flipping my straight black hair out of my eyes._

 

_We swam together in the pool. I was happy, content. Makoto. Water. I looked over to my friend who was on the other side of the pool, my heart tugging slightly as I saw him smile and wave at me._

 

_He swam up beside me and smiled, “Are you enjoying yourself, Haru-chan?”_

 

_I nodded, forgetting about the added title. I looked at him, trying to say something to him but I couldn’t get my mouth to work._

 

_Makoto only smiled softly at me, his green eyes full of understanding. “It’s alright. I know.”_

 

When I woke up the next morning, I couldn’t remember any of what I had dreamt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I finally moved this from my ff.net account (I will still be doing it there if anyone's interested; I know they have an app). I've been working on this for a while, but college is getting a lot of time. At the moment, I'm working on a whole lot of stuff for my classes as well as other stories I've been writing that I finally decided to publish. And I moved this over because some people just prefer this site. And I just made an account.
> 
> So if you're just joining this story, welcome! Feedback, of any kind, is much appreciated. I hope you enjoy the story, which was an idea from tumblr. Oh, I also have a tumblr (aramirez24.tumblr.com) if you want to chat or geek out about anything. I don't mind talking to people!
> 
> Happy reading!


	4. Taking Matters Into My Own Hands

“It’s definitely Seijurou and Gou. I bet any cupid could feel those two from miles away.”

 

The thought of other Cupids coming in and staking a claim on them bothered me. I bit my lip and gave Nagisa a worried look, “Do you think then-?”

 

Nagisa shook his head, “Goro likes you more that you think. This entire city is off-limits.”

 

I cocked my head and sat my pencil down on one of the posters I was working on for Nagisa and his ridiculous idea of “love guru.” But my concentration was gone at Nagisa’s words. “Really now?”

 

Nagisa nodded, chewing on his pencil, which was the only thing he’s used it for, his enthusiastic eyes scanning the poster. “Why do you seem so surprised? He did give you a second chance, Haru-chan.”

 

“Quiet!” I glanced around quickly, Makoto was still in deep discussion with Rei and Rin was arguing with Gou while Nitori stood there watching the argument go back and forth like it was a tennis match. His look of apprehension said he was obviously not enjoying it.

 

I sighed and turned back to Nagisa, who was still chewing away at his pencil like nothing. “You need to be careful, Nagisa,” I whispered half-heartedly. No matter how many times I told him to watch his words, he always just seemed to brush off my warnings. I know I caught Makoto and Rin look up a few times whenever they were close enough, though I have no idea why.

 

Nagisa waved away my comment, dragging a finger across the paper, “I could put my wings in full view and no one would notice right now.”

 

I raised an eyebrow, “You still have your wings?”

 

“Uh…” Nagisa dropped his pencil, his pink eyes flitting in every direction, avoiding my own blue ones.

 

I sighed and picked up my own pencil, “Don’t worry Nagisa, it’s not your fault I don’t have my own wings.” No matter how hard I tried to hide it, my voice was still heavy with regret.

 

Nagisa frowned at my words, “Maybe I could take you flying and-”

 

I shook my head. Flying is something that a single person does alone. To feel my wings beating against my back, my gold feather ruffling. I turned away from Nagisa’s worried expression and stared out the window.

 

The blue sky was in perfect flying conditions. There was a small breeze, that I would usually ride on, brushing past the trees, causing their leaves to wave or fall to the ground. Several birds floated by.

 

_I want to fly again…_

 

“Isoya?”

 

I blinked, turning towards the sound of my other name being called.

 

Makoto was standing beside me, a small smile on his face, a real one. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Rin glancing in this direction.

 

Hmm…

 

I gave my full attention back to Makoto as he began to explain how swim practices would work and some of their upcoming tournaments.

 

“The most important tournament for us is the Preliminaries in August,” Makoto finished.

 

I rose an eyebrow, what is it and August with everyone?

 

Makoto smiled again and answered my unspoken question, “The preliminaries in August help us qualify for regionals. If we don’t qualify this year, then the swim club will shut down indefinitely.”

 

It’s been only a couple of days since I’ve been with Makoto, but he seems to have the ability to read me easily. I shrugged it off every time though, not even feeling the least bit unnerved by it. It seemed natural.

 

Less work for me at any rate.

 

“Also,” Rei spoke up, “If we do not happen to recruit new swimmers, they may close the club for lack of numbers. We hope to attend nationals to increase an attraction to us.”

 

My heart clenched at the thought of Makoto’s club closing. I don’t exactly know how he feels about the club itself, but I do know he cares enough about his friends to try his hardest for them. He loves his friends more than he hates the water.

 

What was he going to do when he found out I’m not human? That I’ll be leaving by the fifteenth of August no matter what becomes of my mission.

 

Not only is that heart-wrenchingly sad for me because of the pain I’d be putting him, _them_ , through (Cupids are all about love; not sadness or hurt or hate, especially causing it), but what if I can’t even help them win?

 

I may end up matching the six people before the tournament even begins.

 

“When?” I heard myself asking. Why am I asking? I’ll probably be gone by then.

 

Rei straightened his glasses in that odd way that seemed to work for him. “August fourteenth are the individual events. August fifteenth, if we so choose, is the relay.”

 

I kept my face as neutral as possible, but my fist clench underneath the desk. The fifteenth of August?

 

Makoto, damn him and his obvious ability to read me, rose an eyebrow at me.

 

“So,” I began. I racked my head for anything that could turn this around. I didn’t need Makoto to grow any suspicions now. “Will there be any training camp for us this summer?”

 

Makoto nodded, though his eyes told me he was still suspicious, “Once our Captain and manager come up with a plan, we will when school let’s out.”

 

“Captain?”

 

Rei nodded, “But of course. To have a successful and beautiful club, we need to have the proper board of leadership to properly represent the Swim Club.”

 

I didn’t respond to him. How is a club supposed to be beautiful?

 

Makoto smiled, a real full smile. Somewhere in my head, something clicked together.

 

_“It’s alright. I know.”_

 

I wrinkled my nose and turned my face toward the window; I got these fragments of visions often and ignoring them seemed to be the best for me. I still couldn’t piece what they were about, but whenever I tried to think about it, I received a headache for my troubles.

 

A few birds flew by effectively knocking the visions from the forefront of my mind. My back itched, right where my wings were supposed to be.

 

I wanted to feel them again, have them stretch out to the farthest they would reach. Or feel them press against my back when I wasn’t in the air, tucked against my shoulders, my gold feathers tickling my arms in a pleasant way.

 

It was stupid of me to deny my duties for so long. If I hadn’t, I could be flying right now with my beautiful gold wings…

 

I tried not to scoff out loud as a random thought occurred to me; there are so many people around me, and with Nagisa sitting across from me, they’ll wonder what’s wrong. But he was talking to Makoto and Rei about their training regimen, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

 

It was said that a cupid with gold wings was something special because they’re so rare; Eros himself didn’t have them. It was said that they were, or could be, the greatest Cupids. But every great thing must also come with a drawback.

 

It was also said that they always face heartbreak; heartbreak that could quite possibly kill them.

 

If a Cupid had a weakness, it was that. We are not meant for other emotions except those that brought love; the other emotions just didn’t sit well with us. Heartbreak is the worse. For us, our entire _being_ is devoted to love. To witness a terrible heartbreak is nearly lethal, let alone actually experience it.

 

I had never feared those rumors. I knew that the rumors among the Greek Gods were always exaggerated, so it was easy to turn a blind eye. But now that I was stuck on this assignment, I couldn’t help but think that my heartache would be the loss of my wings.

 

I was pulled out of my thoughts by a bell ringing, signaling the end of the school day.

 

Makoto placed his hand on my shoulder. A tingle oddly shot down my arm as I looked up at him.

 

“Come on Isoya,” he smiled.

 

I nodded, “So, who’s the Captain?”

 

I shouldered my bag as we followed everyone to the pool. Gou and Rin were both still arguing with Nitori trying to separate the two. Nagisa, the little Cupid that he was, cozied up to Rei who was blushing crazily. I nearly smiled.

 

Makoto walked in step beside me, “Well, Rin is our captain now, I’m vice-captain, Rei is our treasurer, and Gou is the manager.”

 

I nodded, my curly hair bouncing on my head.

 

Makoto gave me a knowing look. He rubbed his chin before offering a smile. “Don’t worry Isoya, Rin isn’t as bad as he seems. He takes a bit to warm up to and he’s edgy at the moment because he’s stressed.” Makoto turned his gaze forward. “We all are.”

 

I didn’t know what to say. I really wanted to help Makoto, something within me rose and growled. Makoto is upset and that means something is wrong with the world.

 

A surge of power burst through me, it came from my chest, my heart, and coursed through me. It flowed in my veins to the tips of my toes.

 

I smiled widely, now _this_ I was sure of.

 

I glanced up and noticed Seijurou was back. He was talking to Gou with his usual extremely large smile on his face.

 

I tried not to frown. That match up was obvious, almost too easy.

 

There must be another match here.

 

Rin walked up to Makoto, a snarl on his face that looked menacing with his sharp teeth, “Apparently Gou and Mikoshiba have been texting and decided to have a relay race.”

 

Makoto placed a comforting hand on Rin’s shoulder. Rin’s snarl disappeared into a scowl. “Lets just be happy they’re willing to help,” Makoto eased.

 

Rin nodded, dragging a hand through his red hair, “You’re right.”

 

Makoto smiled, his hand still on Rin’s shoulder.

 

I rose an eyebrow. It _has_ to be…

 

I didn’t say anything as I began stretching. I know one of these matches were going to be easy, but the other might not be as merciful.

 

* * *

 

As it goes, Seijurou and Gou were really easy.

 

All I had to do was get Nagisa to distract the team, Rin especially, in the club room while I worked my “magic.”

 

Well, magic if you call tripping Gou and Seijiurou was the only one around to catch her.

 

I did also have at talk with Seijurou before the joint practice to get him to make a move before the day was out, convincing him to do it or someone else would swoop Gou off her feet. The siblings were continuing their arguing throughout practice and I made perfect use of that.

 

So I still have a use of persuasion.

 

I hope I get some sign from Goro saying that the match counts. Even though they already knew each other, I still had to give them a slight push. (Ha.)

 

I finished toweling off my hair and left the bathroom. The house was almost entirely quiet. I know Makoto’s siblings, the twins Ren and Ran, were asleep in their room after Makoto tucked them in. Makoto was, presumably, where I left him: in his room with his headphones jammed in his ears. And Makoto’s parents, were in the kitchen…arguing.

 

I ran my hand through my hair, frowning at the feel of wet curls and the sounds emitting from the kitchen. I could feel the Cupid in me getting anxious. It was confusing that they would argue so much, two people that loved each other so much. It didn’t make sense.

 

I need time to think.

 

Opening the door, I noticed something white peeking out from underneath my pillow. After a quick glance around the room to make sure Goro wasn’t actually here, I walked over to Makoto.

 

His eyes were shut tight, as though he was in pain, hiding the green orbs I know to be there. The small space between his eyebrows, as well as forehead, was all scrunched up and I wanted to smooth it all out with my finger. His hands were running through his brown hair, and something in me knew how soft it was.

 

My fingers twitched.

 

I caught myself staring at his hands that seemed to be traveling in a rhythm that I knew…

 

I shook my head. The familiarity of this guy was beginning to grate on my nerves. I couldn’t place it, and I didn’t like being left in a closed off space.

 

The sooner I match two other pairs, the better.

 

“Makoto,” I shook his shoulder gently.

 

Makoto blinked those green eyes up at me and, in that one moment, they were filled with so much anger and sadness and desperation that my breath caught in a choking sob.

 

Then he blinked and smiled up at me, one of his real smiles that seemed to fit with his features so perfectly that my heart stopped.

 

He pulled out his headphones, “I guess it’s my turn then?”

 

I jerked my head and crawled on to my bed as he moved around to get his things to shower.

 

What is going on with me?

 

I heard the door shut softly, and decided to think about that all later. So I reached for the pillow; underneath it was a note.

 

Cautiously, I picked it up and unfolded it.

 

Immediately, a miniature Goro popped up. He stared up at me with his usual smile and brown wings ruffling behind him.

 

“Haru, you have successfully matched two more soul mates. Good work, through I expected as much from you. Or so it says on the paperwork we’ve received.”

 

I rolled my eyes, but grinned at mini-Goro.

 

The Goro-gram laughed, “Now, wipe that grin off your face. As Nagisa probably already told you, I have made Iwatobi off-limits to give you a fair chance. I thought it would help because of your lack of Cupid powers. With Nagisa, and some observational work, like I’m sure you have used for this pair, you should be able to have two more matches ups before your deadline. Once that happens, your Cupid powers and wings will be returned and you can leave Iwatobi.”

 

I nodded along with what he said, though I knew he couldn’t see it. At least the match counted. The anxiety I had felt disappeared completely.

 

Then his face grew serious. “Haru. I don’t want you to think too much into this, but Eros asked me to pass along a few words to you. He said,” he looked down at his ever-present clipboard, “‘Much like finding love, you need to trust your heart and not so much your head. Not everything is as it will always seem at first look, young Cupid! We will be expecting you soon.’”

 

Goro’s face smoothed out quickly. “Well, good luck, Haru. We will be in contact.”

 

Mini-Goro vanished.

 

“Wait.” I flipped the note over looking at the other side. I folded it and unfolded, but nothing happened. “What the heck does that mean though?”

 

I stuffed the, now blank, note in a nearby trash bin. Though I was confused , my anger dissipated quickly. Cupids weren’t made for anger.

 

What did all that mean? I know Eros didn’t normally try to talk to the Cupids, except the supervisors, but why was he contacting me?

 

All of this made those rumors seem more and more realistic and I didn’t like it.

 

I didn’t have much time to think about it. Makoto walked back into the bedroom, his hair damp and his eyes downcast. He was obviously upset about something.

 

I rose an eyebrow, “Makoto?”

 

His green eyes met my own, and I knew that if he lied to me, I would know. His sigh was shaky and his lip trembled slightly, then he shook his head, “S-sorry.”

 

Makoto’s voice cracked and immediately tears fell from his eyes.

 

I reacted, jumping up and walking over to him briskly so I could led him to his bed. He sat heavily on it and kept his sobs quiet.

 

My heart clenched at the sight of this sweet person in front of me reduced to such sadness.

 

“I- I’m sorry, Isoya,” he whispered. Tears continued falling from his eyes, but his lip stopped trembling. I grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “I don’t know what’s come over me,” he sighed.

 

I nodded, “It’s fine. Do I need to call someone? Rin maybe?”

 

I ignored the bitterness I felt.

 

Makoto shook his head, “No. I don’t- I…I can’t let him see me cry.”

 

_But you can let me? Twice?_

 

I sat beside him on his bed, his hand still in my grip.

 

He leaned on my shoulder, which was at a better height for him than my actual size. I was shocked, but shook that off quickly. My free hand ran through his hair gently in an attempt to calm him.

 

It worked; his shoulders stopped shaking and I knew his tears stopped because I no longer felt them on my shirt.

 

We sat there like that for a long time, neither of us said anything. The silence wasn’t awkward nor sad, but filled with something else entirely.

 

“I am sorry, Isoya.”

 

I turned my head slightly to look at him. His face was tilted downwards, so I was unable to see his face. I did notice that it was tilted in the direction of our hands though.

 

“It’s fine.” I turned my head away and looked at the wall in front of me. In the poor lighting, I could only make out the figures of photos and posters hanging off the wall. I have yet to look at them, but my curiosity at the moment is not important. The sobbing boy on my shoulder was.

 

I wondered briefly if there was a way I could make it seem better. At that moment, I was willing to do anything.

 

“Makoto, if you could have everything go your way, what would you want?” I whispered.

 

He shifted a bit on my shoulder. “I want my siblings to be happy, to not catch on to what my parents have been arguing about; I’d rather them live in ignorance for now. It’d be better for them. They wouldn’t have to have any worries.”

 

“Okay, but if you were to go against your nature for a few seconds and be selfish, what would _you_ want?”

 

He shifted again. It was obviously hard for him to think selfishly when he thought that others close to him were going to be harmed as well.

 

“I- in all honesty, there are only three things I would really want.”

 

I nodded, “Yes?”

 

“First, I want my parents to get better. I don’t know if they still love each other or not, but I want them to stop arguing so much.”

 

“Okay, what else?” It was reasonable. A son who wanted his parents happy.

 

He sniffed slightly and it made him seem so small in that moment that I wanted to hold him and never let go. I tightened my grip on his hand.

 

“I really, really don’t want the Swim Club to shut down.” Before I could respond, he sighed, “I know that I may not be the biggest fan of swimming right now, but I don’t want any of my friends to have to give up doing what they love. I really enjoy all the practices with them and the time we spend on the club. They make me happy.”

 

I bit my lip. It was silent for a moment before I spoke again. “What’s the third thing you want?”

 

He didn’t answer.

 

I looked at him again. His eyes were set on our hands again, staring at them. Despite the obvious size difference from my actual hands and these necessary for my disguise, it was nice to be able to hold someone’s hand, Makoto’s hand.

 

I squeezed his hand, “You can tell me.”

 

I heard him swallow, he was that nervous.

 

“It’s a completely selfish thing because he may be better off where he’s at. But,” he took a deep breath, “if I could have anything, I would want my best friend back.”

 

I didn’t say anything, what could I?

 

Makoto released my hand and sat up straight, “Thanks for listening Isoya. I actually feel a little better.”

 

I nodded and went over to my own bed. Makoto turned off the light and we were cloaked in instant darkness. Although I heard Makoto’s breathing eventually slow to an even pace, I couldn’t fall asleep.

 

Makoto’s pain was so obvious, crystal clear, yet he hid it. He buried it so far beneath, that no one could really see it, not his family nor his friends. But it was there, so plain.

 

I dug the heels of my hands into my eyes until I saw stars. I’m beginning to get emotional.

 

My hands fell to my sides.

 

I don’t know if I can bring his friend back, but…

 

A surge of that unfamiliar strong energy flowed from my chest down to the tips of my fingers and toes. I smiled.

 

But I could help his parents.

 

I glanced over at Makoto’s bed, trying to make out his sleeping form. He didn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon.

 

I quietly rolled out of my bed. Where would his parents be right now? I think I should try the kitchen first. If I could somehow talk to them, maybe I could start piecing back together his life, get him out of this horrible sadness.

 

My footsteps were quiet against the hard wood floor, but I knew to creep stealthily by the twins room or they would hear me and wake up.

 

I bit my lip, why was I so sure of that?

 

My thoughts scattered when I heard a muffled argument coming from the other end of the hallway. They must be in the living room if I can hear them from here.

 

I kept quiet until I reached the end of the hallway and caught a bit of their conversation.

 

“You just don’t seem to care about it as much as I do,” Mrs. Tachibana was saying.

 

A grunt was the reply.

 

“You can’t even justify it with a response.”

 

A muffled thud, as if someone had hit a pillow or couch, and Mr. Tachibana whispered back furiously, “What do you want me to do about it? He won’t open up to anyone to talk about anything! And, no matter how hard I’ve tried, he won’t let me in. It’s a miracle he hasn’t tried to get rid of himself after the accident so long ago!”

 

A choked sigh. “But we have to _try._ We can’t just let him be miserable the rest of his life. It’s been _years_ since that’s happened,” Mrs. Tachibana trailed off.

 

Another sigh. I peeked around the corner of the hallway. Both adults had their backs to me as they were sitting side by side at the table with cups of tea in front of them. Mr. Tachibana placed his arm around his wife as her shoulders began to shake.

 

“He didn’t just loose a friend that day.”

 

She picked her head up off of his shoulder to look at her husband. Her voice was strained and barely broke above a whisper, “What do you mean?”

 

How could loosing a best friend get any worse? I was on edge, leaning against the small table that held an empty fish bowl. I didn’t understand.

 

Mr. Tachibana sighed. He removed his glasses with his free hand and rubbed at his eyes. “He loved him, I recognized it the moment their middle school days were over.”

 

Mrs. Tachibana clasped a hand over her mouth and bit back a sob. I bit my lip to keep my own from springing forth and looked down at the ground, blinking my eyes furiously. _No…no, then that means Makoto will be a-_

 

“How do you know for sure?”

 

I looked up back at the two adults. Mr. Tachibana gave a small smile to his wife and kissed her forehead, “Because he looked at him the same way I look at you. I knew that it was the same for him.”

 

My heart ached horribly, a wave of sorrow crashing into me. I turned away from them and leaned heavily against the wall, my breath coming in heavy pants.

 

_He was my second half._

 

Of course, how could I have been so stupid! It was so obvious when he told me the other night that there was something more than friendship. He never told his friend exactly how he felt, nor had he found out if his friend returned the feelings.

 

I clutched at my chest. _Heartache…_

 

“-ka was probably the worst day of his life. That’s why it’s so hard for him to get out of this depression, for him to even smile.”

 

My eyes lifted from the ground. Smile? Makoto hasn’t even really smiled since then?

 

But he’s smiling now; he smiles at me all the time. I’m sure of it.

 

A warmth spread through my chest again as I replayed Makoto in my mind. I’ve seen his fake smile, the mask he puts on so that everyone will think he’s okay. But I’ve also seen the real smile, the smile that stretches across his face, the smile that reaches his eyes and makes them light up and seem a bit less dim. I’ve seen that smile directed at me.

 

I stood up straight and walked into the living room a bit louder than necessary. Makoto’s parents looked up from their tea and his mother offered me a forced smile, “Shouldn’t you be asleep, Isoya? You have classes in the morning.”

 

I sat across from them, I had to do this right. If I don’t say the right words, I could mess the entire thing up. “I am sorry for the intrusion, but I could not sleep. I’m actually a little worried,” I stated.

 

Mrs. Tachibana tilted her head slightly, “About what?”

 

“Makoto.”

 

I noticed them exchange looks, but I kept my face down. I needed to keep up the illusion.

 

“Well, Isoya,” his father began, “He’s been going through a rough time lately.”

 

I nodded slowly, “Yes, he’s told me.”

 

The slight relieved expression both of them shared did not go unnoticed. “He told you?” Mr. Tachibana asked.

 

I nodded again, “Yes. He told me about the accident and about the swim club shutting down and about you two.”

 

“What about us?” Mrs. Tachibana asked.

 

I sighed slowly, “He seems to think that you two do not care for each other anymore, that you will be likely to divorce.” I looked up at them. “He just wants you happy.”

 

Mrs. Tachibana sighed and grasped her husband’s tightly. “We’ve only been making it worse, haven’t we? After all that he’s lost, how could we do that to him and not even realize? He must be so worried about Ren and Ran!”

 

Mr. Tachibana wrapped his arm around her and brought her close, “It’s alright. We can still fix this.” His questioning eyes sought my own.

 

I nodded, “You can. It seems, as of late, that he is getting better. I noticed when I met him that he was in a sort of depression, but I don’t think that’s the case anymore. Now I think he’s just worried about several unnecessary things which adds onto his sadness.”

 

“How do you know he is getting better?”

 

“He smiles now,” I said, giving a small smile of my own.

 

Both of them seemed surprised for a second before smiling in what could only be complete and utter relief.

 

Mr. Tachibana looked down at his wife, “We have to change, love. We should try to make it as it was before the accident, as normal as possible.”

 

“But,” she began, “What about all those nights where we left them to look after Ren and Ran? Won’t he be lonely now?”

 

Mr. Tachibana glanced at me and then back to his wife, as if by looking at us we could provide an answer for him.

 

Luckily enough, I could. I spoke up, “I will be here with him. I consider Makoto a very close and important friend.”

 

Mr. Tachibana smiled, looking completely satisfied. But Mrs. Tachibana still seemed to have her doubts.

 

I tried again, “What if you ease back into it? Not all at once, but subtle differences at first before going back to the way it was? That way he notices the differences and can begin worrying less maybe?”

 

Mrs. Tachibana nodded slowly, understanding my method of thinking, “A-alright. We could do that.”

 

I kept my smile hidden from them; though my wings were gone, I seemed to still have it.

 

Makoto will be happy.

 

I bowed slightly to them. “Thank you, my worries seem to be disappearing already.”

 

They blinked at me with hazy eyes and smiled in return. “Thank you Isoya, for bringing this to our attention.” Mrs. Tachibana smiled, “It’s nice to know Makoto has a friend like you in his time of need.”

 

I nodded and stood, deciding it was best to return to Makoto’s room now before he woke up. Not that he would, he’s such a heavy sleeper.

 

If his parents actually did like they said they would, all I had to do was help his swimming team. That would make a lot of things easier for him than they’ve been recently.

 

I frowned slightly, if only there was something I could do about his friend.

 

I shook my head, of course there isn’t. He’s gone. Not even a Cupid could do something like that.

 

I silently crawled back into my bed, Makoto was still sleeping a few feet away from me. _Good, he didn’t hear me leave._

 

I assumed my talk with his parents would have drained all my energy for the night, as it normally would have. Gold wings or no, I was still a Cupid without their wings.

 

But as I looked back over at Makoto’s sleeping form, I could feel a surge of bubbly energy coming from the center of my entire being. The warmth was unbelievable and I felt as though I was flying again. I closed my eyes, reveling in the liveliness I felt again.

 

Makoto’s smiling face was my last conscious thought as I drifted into slumber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh. It's been sooooo long! And I apologize immensely for that. I am so so sorry for you guys having to wait months until I actually updated this. And you amazing people still give me kudos and all that and I love you all for that!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter (this is the longest one I've written for this story!), I am working on the next one. My inspiration for this story was gone for the longest time, but I found it! And I am so happy that I did. I missed writing this. (And that second season though? Like, they are going to kill me! And this episode this week, soooo not ready for it!)
> 
> I have a tumblr: aramirez24. In case you guys still actually like me, come on over and say hello! (And talk to me about the Free! ES because I literally am suffering on my own!) I also post my updates there (or on the tag I track: HPOwlLover24) and...well, yeah.
> 
> Love you all so much! Feedback is much appreciated! Happy readings lovelies!!!


	5. Subtleness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Birthday Makoto ^.^

The morning air was filled with a delicious smell. It spread throughout the entire house, encompassing us in a homey warmth. Sunlight peeped through the curtains, shinning down on the two of us, thoroughly waking me up.

 

I sat up in my bed and noticed Makoto was doing the same, rubbing his eyes. “What’s going on,” he yawned.

 

I shrugged, not entirely sure if he even saw it. But instead of answering, I climbed out of bed and began walking towards the door.

 

As soon as I stepped out, I heard Makoto behind me, “Wah. Isoya, wait for me!”

 

I bit my lip, holding back a chuckle.

 

I walked into the kitchen, Makoto close behind me, and smiled.

 

Ren and Ran were sitting at the table, plates of food already in font of them. Mr. and Mrs. Tachibana were at the stove, Mr. Tachibana placed a kiss on his wife’s forehead as she continued to cook breakfast.

 

I glanced sideways at Makoto and noticed he was standing there in slight shock.

 

“Ah, boys!” Mrs. Tachibana exclaimed, turning around with a pan full of food in her hands, “Are you two hungry?”

 

Mr. Tachibana placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, giving her a smile, “Of course, look at how Makoto is just gawking at the food.”

 

“Onii-chan!” The twins jumped up and ran to hug their brother good morning. Each of them hung off one of his legs causing Makoto to stumble a little to keep his balance.

 

Mrs. Tachibana came forward and gave Makoto a kiss on his forehead as Mr. Tachibana picked up the twins before they could knock him over. “What’s wrong honey? You look as if you’ve seen a ghost!”

 

Makoto blanched at the word and his hand twitched towards me before falling back to his side motionless.

 

_What was that about?_

 

“Eh, no, I’m fine. I am hungry though,” Makoto said, staring at the pan in her hand.

 

She laughed as her husband answered, “You two go get, ah! Ren, that was my ear! Get dressed and we’ll- Ran! My foot!”

 

Mrs. Tachibana laughed again, giving them an adoring gaze before smiling at Makoto. “Get ready for school while I finish cooking.”

 

I lead Makoto from the kitchen to his room so we could dress.

 

Makoto seemed dazed as he searched of his uniform. After he pulled out another pair of one of his swimming suits, I placed a hand on his shoulder and led him to his bed. I dug through his closet for his uniform as he spoke, “Sorry Isoya, I just- well, I guess I’m a little surprised.”

 

I shot a look at him over my shoulder.

 

He shook his head, “Of course I’m happy! They just haven’t acted like that in so long…”

 

I handed him his uniform, the hopeful look in his eye made my breath catch. I frowned slightly and turned my head away from him. “You change first and I’ll go after.” I sighed and, before walking to the door, rested my hand on his shoulder briefly, “It’s not your imagination Makoto. Your parents really are happy together.” I walked out of the room so he could change.

 

I waited quietly outside of his room. “What am I doing?” I whispered to myself. I was supposed to be matching _new_ soul mates. If I didn’t, I’d end up with Hades in the Underworld. Did I really want that?

 

Of course the answer was: Hades no.

 

Makoto came out of his room, a wide smile on his face. “It’s all yours.”

 

I tried to ignore my stuttering heart and focus on the warmth spreading through me. “You can go, I’ll be a moment,” I told him, walking into the room. I wanted to ignore everything screaming at me that that boy was the reason why. “He’s my friend,” I reasoned. “That was why.”

 

After I had changed, I stumbled out of the room, fumbling with my tie. “Darn, this stupid-”

 

My shoulder hit something and I began to fall back, not having much balance to begin with. A hand reached out and steadied me, Makoto was waiting for me though I had told him to head to breakfast.

 

He pointed at the cloth around my neck, a teasing smile on his lips, “Need some help?”

 

I blushed, turning away from him, and gave one stiff bob of my head.

 

He chuckled and began to tie it. “Thank you for telling me what you said earlier. It just seems too good to be true, but there’s no other way to explain it.” He smiled, his hands slipping to my shoulders after he fixed my collar.

 

For some reason, I was finding it hard to breathe. I didn’t understand why I couldn’t suck in oxygen or stop staring at his shinning, green eyes.

 

There was a slight furrow in his brow as he stared back at me. His eyes darting back and forth between each of my own.

 

 _Was he getting closer? Was I getting closer?_ His green eyes were getting larger, filling my entire line of vision. His cool breath was washing over me, and his scent, soap or cologne whatever it was, was filling my nostrils and making me lightheaded.

 

“Boys! Your breakfast is getting cold.”

 

We jumped at Mrs. Tachibana’s words, and walked quickly toward the kitchen.

 

The familiarity of his eyes scared me more than not being able to breathe.

 

Seriously, what is wrong with me?

 

* * *

Before this assignment, my Cupid powers were incredibly strong. I could sense two soul mates miles away, and match them in half the time. I was an amazing flyer, covering miles in minutes. I flew countries lengths before having to stop and rest.

 

But now, well, I felt as though I was going through withdrawals.

 

I had a phantom itch where my wings used to be. Something was missing and I felt that I could still feel them twitching or tickling my arms.

 

But if that was bad, my match making skills were worse.

 

After successfully pairing Seijurou and Gou, Rin was not happy about that but they were a good couple, I thought I could breeze through matching Makoto and Rin and then search for my last couple.

 

Having such weak Cupid powers has its drawbacks.

 

It’s been weeks, it’s already the start of June, and I got absolutely nowhere with the two of them and Nagisa’s Guru idea.

 

I’ve tried everything, though. Talking to the two of them (that usually works for me by the way, just a few words and _bam_ , love), dropping hints, leaving little notes, pushing them into each other’s arms, calling at night; I even locked them in the club room for two hours before Gou let them out.

 

Everything ended in failure.

 

When I tried talking to them, Makoto would try telling me they were only friends and Rin only yelled at me for hooking his sister up with the captain. It was if I was talking to a recording and a brick wall. Guess which was which?

 

When I tried dropping little hints, that was worse than talking to them. Makoto only got flustered, blushing and spluttering to me, but I don’t think he knew I was trying to tell him _Rin’s_ fake words. Rin was also a little flustered and, of course, angry and nearly punched me.

 

The notes were very cheesy on my part, but I had done it once before and it had worked brilliantly. Though, to be honest, I should have realized that best friends knew each other’s handwriting. I was beginning to wonder about my sanity at this point.

 

The pushing thing was actually a little fun but because of the domino affect that had happened. When I pushed Makoto he fell into Rin, who in turn lost his footing and began to fall. Well, first he had grabbed Makoto to catch him and his other hand tried to grab something to keep himself up, which happened to be Nitori’s neck. One thing led to another and…well, everyone but me ended up in the pool.

 

The calling I decided to never try ever again, and it was the first time I had done it. Yet that was because Makoto nearly began crying for one reason (that I shall not even mention because I am so ashamed with myself) and he’s still only cried in front of me.

 

Now, by the time I decided to lock them in the club room, I was getting desperate and frustrated and decided to listen to Nagisa.

 

When Rin came storming out, Nitori had to hold him back. How that small boy could do that is beyond me, but I thanked him nonetheless.

 

And I also decided to not listen to Nagisa anymore.

 

“Isoya, will you please stop trying to pin me up with Rin?” Makoto placed his hand on my shoulder gently. “I appreciate it, but I don’t think Rin and I are meant to be.”

 

I tried not to crack a smile, instead I gave him a look. “Why? You two seem so good together.”

 

Makoto fell on his bed beside me, causing me to bounce up a little.

 

Through the weeks of school and practice, my friendship with Makoto has grown rather immensely. We were extremely close now, hanging out after school and practice, going out together on errands and to hang out. I feel as though I can trust him with everything.

 

Well, almost everything.

 

Makoto laughed, nudging me with his elbow. “No, no, no. Not at all.”

 

I glanced at him, he seemed happy. Maybe he really wasn’t meant to be with Rin. I suppose his relationship with his deceased friend was a strong one. That person may have been the one for him.

 

That thought made me sad. So Makoto would never meet his soul mate then?

 

Makoto elbowed me again lightly. “Are you alright Isoya? You seem distracted.”

 

I nodded slowly, trying to rid myself of a soul mate-less Makoto. I had other things to worry about at the moment.

 

“When do we leave for training camp?”

 

Makoto blinked at the sudden change of the subject. His eyebrows furrowed together as he concentrated and I felt the corner of my mouth twitch up in a half smile. “I think we leave for the island in a week and begin our long distance swimming and running.” He chuckled, “And whatever else Gou has in store for us during that time.”

 

I nodded again, “Do you know who’s going?”

 

“Well, besides the team, Gou, our sponsor Ama-chan, and Nagisa I believe.”

 

So things seem to be working against me.

 

“Kids, dinner!”

 

Makoto smiled widely, helping me off the bed, and we traveled the short distance to the kitchen. Mrs. Tachibana was serving dinner to Ren and Ran, laughing at something her husband had whispered in her ear.

 

Beside me, Makoto sighed happily, walking over to join his family.

 

I smiled, seems my work didn’t go to waste.

 

The past few weeks after I had first talked to them, besides trying to set Makoto and Rin together and failing spectacularly, I worked a little more on the Tachibanas. It wasn’t hard because they weren’t falling out of love, quite the opposite really. They are more in love than they realize, but they began stressing over little things because of Makoto.

 

It’s not Makoto’s fault, nor his parents, but it seemed that when Makoto became upset over the passing of his friend, his parents couldn’t help him. This made them scared and frustrated where they took it out on each other. Which, in turn, upset Makoto more.

 

Silly humans and their lack of communication.

 

So it was easy to use my “Cupid magic” on his parents after our talk. I say that, when really I just used my persuasive speech to nudge them back in the right direction.

 

_In order to help Makoto, you need to fix your relationship. He needs his parents._

 

Yeah, a nudge.

 

Whatever the case may be, Makoto smiled and laughed more. His parents, of course, noticed and it seemed as though things were fixed in this tiny family.

 

I joined them, digging into my dinner slowly.

 

“So how’s the swim team coming along boys?” Mr. Tachibana asked.

 

I looked at Makoto, expecting him to answer his dad.

 

Makoto smiled widely, “It’s going great. We leave for training during the break from school and everyone is doing very well. We even have our spots in the relays down. Our pass offs are becoming perfectly timed and our stamina is building up.”

 

Mrs. Tachibana clapped her hands excitedly, “It sounds great, sweetheart! I’m sure everything is going to work out great!”

 

I said nothing as the family continued their small talk. Ren and Ran went on about their own friends and parties that they’ve gone to recently.

 

“What about you Isoya?”

 

I looked up from my plate, glancing at Makoto, who was staring at his own food, before looking at Mr. Tachibana. “I’m sorry?”

 

“Your family? If you don’t mind me asking, are you in touch with them?”

 

“Dad…” Makoto started in a warning tone.

 

I gently touched his knee with my own to let him know it was alright. “I honestly don’t know anything about them. I don’t…um, know where they could be.” _Stop. Don’t go any further._ “Nagisa is my cousin, but he’s distant,” I smirked. If he was around, he wouldn’t like that.

 

Mrs. Tachibana nodded, sensing the end of the conversation, “Well, you all better get to bed. You have a long day of classes and practice tomorrow.”

 

I thanked them as Makoto’s parents cleared the table and began walking back to Makoto’s room.

 

“Isoya, I’m sorry about that,” Makoto closed the door behind us, glancing at me before looking at the floor, his cheeks slightly red.

 

I shrugged, falling on his bed. It didn’t bother me, why does it bother him?

 

Makoto seemed at a loss for words, he fumbled with the edge of his shirt. I watched him walk over to the edge of his bed, as if deciding whether he should sit with me or not.

 

Finally, he gave me a smile and sat down beside me, his knee brushing mine as he looked down at me, “Well, you always have a family here with me, with us.”

 

I looked up at him with wide eyes, just staring at his smile. A warmth that seemed to become a part of this compassionate person sitting beside me.

 

I gave him a smile of my own, brushing my fingers against his. “Thank you.”

 

Makoto’s face grew red again at the contact, but he didn’t move away.

 

I tried not to think about anything, about my new found friendships and my duties and some ridiculous classwork I had to do. Instead, I focused on what was happening right now, how relaxed I felt beside Makoto…and happy.

 

We lied on his bed, not really saying anything, but also not having to. Our fingers making light contact.

 

We stayed like that until we both fell asleep on Makoto’s bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Probably not my best chapter update, but I wanted some nice fluff and I wanted Makoto to be happy for his birthday. This was pretty much just a filler so no worries ^.^ more will be up soon. Also, I have a writing tumblr (hpowllover24.tumblr.com). I post my updates there but I also put some drabbles up. If you want, drop by and say hello!
> 
> Hope you all are well, I definitely miss Free! but I'm kind of looking forward to the dub, are y'all?
> 
> Happy readings!


	6. Living in the Moment

I grabbed my bags; Makoto’s were already thrown over my shoulder after much arguing, and began to make my way down the stairs to the landing that would lead us out to the train station. I turned around, waiting patiently for Makoto to say goodbye to his family so we could leave.

I sighed, smiling to myself. This could take a while.

I looked off to my left, noticing the stairs leading up to another sidewalk that, I assumed, branched out to other houses, out of my sight. All I could see were the outside of the houses, but something told me that I knew what each of them looked like. I knew the color of each house and what was in the front path of each house.

I narrowed my eyes slightly, concentrating. I also knew that there was one particular house up there, at the top of the stairs, at the end of the pavement. It was quiet, lonely. No one else would be there. I had to make breakfast. I had to wash the clothes. I had to go to bed alone because there was no one else in the house to be with.

I reached out further, trying to take hold of the last bit of thought before it slipped away.

“Isoya?”

I turned back around slowly, bright green eyes engulfing my vision.

I had help making breakfast, someone complaining about only eating…fish? There was someone arguing with me about washing black and purple tights. There was someone there, curling up next to me, their arms wrapped around my waist, my arms wrapped around their shoulders. I could feel their breathing, could hear their soft snores, a sound of comfort.

“Isoya?” I felt a hand squeeze my shoulder gently and I blinked again, Makoto’s face slowly coming into focus. “Are you alright?”

There were a few seconds where I didn’t answer. Was I okay? What just happened…?

I nodded, gently shrugging off his arm. There wasn’t any time to delve into this right now. We were going to be late meeting the others to go to the island. I gave him a look and he nodded, “Alright, we’ll be late if we don’t leave now.”

When I decided to attend the training camp (as I didn’t have much choice anyways), I chose to put my Cupid matching duties on hold. It was only for a week, and, though I only had about two months left to my deadline, I needed a break. These last two and a half months had been horrible, and I’ve only matched one couple. It was really disheartening for me, especially because I used to be able to match people so easily.

I shook my head; half listening to Makoto talk about the last time they’d visited the island. More often than not, couples will sprout up randomly when a Cupid wasn’t looking. It was rumored that Eros usually did this to help a Cupid meet their quota when they were having a difficult time.

I would consider not matching anyone in two and half months, excluding the obvious couple, as a “difficult time,” so I was hoping he would step in here and show me where I was supposed to be looking.

After Makoto finished explaining where we were going, I spoke up, “Have you gone there before? You seem to know a lot.”

Makoto glanced at me from the corner of his eye before staring forward again. “I used to visit when I was little with my friend. He loved to swim and being surrounded by the ocean like that always made him happy…” Makoto trailed off, his teeth worrying his bottom lip slightly, but I could see the corner of his mouth turning up slightly.

I turned forward, deciding not to bring it up. Instantly, I recognized a pair of red heads and a jumpy blonde. Sighing, Makoto smiling beside me, we greeted the others.

“Rei isn’t here yet?” Makoto asked, glancing down at his orange watch that all of us teased him about.

Rin shook his head, some of his red hair flying out of his hair tie, “Said something about being late cause he needed to do some last minute things.”

“But we really do need to get going soon,” Gou put in, tapping her fingers against her waist. “Ama-chan said her friend won’t wait forever at the dock. And he’s our only way out there!”

Makoto nodded and pulled out his cell phone. “It’s not like Rei to be late,” he murmured, tapping away at the keys.

I sighed again, gripping the bags tighter in my hand, no it wasn’t. Though I barely knew Rei as well as Makoto, I still did not want him to be hurt or for anything bad to happen to him. I was beginning to actually sort of care for these people…people that I would have to leave soon…

As soon as Makoto was about to call Rei to ask him where he was, the secretary in question showed up, out of breath and flustered. “I am sorry! Forgive me Makoto-senpai, Rin-senpai, Isoya-senpai, Gou-san, Nitori-san, Nagisa-san.”

I glanced at Makoto, his smile wide and bright as he told Rei it was fine before he could issue a formal apology to everyone.

It was strange, really, to see all of these people and think that I would have to leave them soon. Well, _we_ would have to leave them soon.

Nagisa was there too, laughing with the rest of them, joking around. He easily fit in with everyone, much easier than me at any rate.

But we all got along together so well anyways, as if we knew each other. It was unexpected to think that I would have made a small group of friends when I was supposed to be pairing up people so I wouldn’t end up in the Underworld for eternity.

But…the thought of loosing these people, my friends, was starting to seem more heartbreaking than the thought of loosing my wings.

I studied everyone here as we made our way to the boat. Far out in front were Nagisa and Rei. The small blonde was pulling on Rei’s arm excitedly, trying to get to the boat first, but Rei was having none of it. He was constantly yelling out against Nagisa, trying to reel his arm back in and keep up with him at the same time.

Right behind them was Gou, laughing at Nagisa and pulling out her phone every now and then to type something on it. Whether it was planning a practice regimen or messaging her new boyfriend, it made me happy nonetheless.

Behind her, griping about one thing or another, was Rin. Nitori was beside him, trying to calm him down. The height difference between the two of them was very obvious, but it was kind of cute and didn’t seem to bother them. Nitori could easily reach up and pat Rin’s shoulder comfortingly, smiling at him while he did it, and Rin relaxed underneath his comfort. Those two were so strange sometimes.

Hmph. Like I was one to really talk. I’ve known Makoto only a few months and I felt as if I’ve known him my whole existence.

Makoto, beside me, was talking again, explaining how the training would probably go and how good it would be for us to go through this training camp. How it would prepare us for August and help us work on our speed and stamina.

I stared at him, watching his green eyes light up as he went off about how great we would probably be, ever the optimist. I nearly smiled. He seemed so happy to be here and ready to get the work out of our lives. He was actually the main reason I came. I may not be there for the race, so there was no real reason for me to go. But, for some reason, I wanted to go because this guy was going.

What was going on? I suddenly became more aware of what was happening around me, around us. He was still talking, save for a small stutter as he glanced at me, clueless to my sudden panic. Our hands between us brushed against each other often, but that was our only point of contact. And it was making me feel jittery and happy.

Maybe it was coming from the love I could feel that everyone here had for each other?

It was strange, really it was, that I could feel that Cupid warmth within me when these people surrounded me. When I was so close to Makoto. These people were the last thing I was expecting to get involved with when I got here, yet here I was. I was hardly working on my matches, which is what I expected to be focusing on when I returned, but I couldn’t find it in myself to actually care about that right now.

I was happy at the moment. I wasn’t worried about what could happen or what I had done. I was, for once since I’ve returned as a mortal, completely living in the moment.

**

We made it in time to reach the boat and greet Ama-chan and her friend that would be helping us get to and from the island. And, after we loaded all of our bag and food and supplies onto the boat we were off.

The ride to the first island was supposed to be short, maybe an hour or so, but, as we began moving, I could tell something was wrong with Makoto.

As the rest of the team went to different parts of the small boat together, laughing and groaning about how sore they’re going to be, I led Makoto to a part of the boat that swayed less and was a little more quiet.

We sat down, shoulder to shoulder, and I was unable to say anything. I was really worried about him because, for some reason, I knew something was up. I didn’t know how I knew that there was something bothering him, especially after knowing him for only a few months, but I also knew that he didn’t want to make a big deal about it. So he wouldn’t talk about it unless someone else brought it up and persisted.

I looked at him, hoping he would say something about…well, anything.

Makoto glanced at me and sighed, glancing out over the side of the boat before looking back over at me. “I’m fine Isoya. Just a little seasick.”

I raised an eyebrow, there was no way it was just a little seasickness that was doing it.

He looked away from me.

Sighing, I inched closer to him. I wasn’t going to get an answer from this by simply looking at him. “Makoto.”

“Really, Isoya, I don’t want to talk about it.”

Ideally, I would have taken the hint. I should have dropped it and let him figure it out. But as Cupids, we don’t have many problems. So, when a problem does come up, we help each other. It’s just in our nature. Makoto needed help, and I wanted to help him. I couldn’t let him suffer through this alone. “Makoto, it’s okay. I can-”

“No, you can’t, Ha-” he stopped himself, his fists tightening on the knee of his sweatpants. “You can’t really help with this one, Isoya. It’s not something that can be really talked out and easily fixed.”

I nodded, watching him settle uneasily into the seat. The rocking of the boat was getting to him; I knew that. I could tell that it had to do with the ocean. The ocean was what was bothering him so much.

Was it because of the accident? Was Makoto afraid of water?

He tensed up, nearly squeaking and falling off the chair as a larger wave slid against the side of the boat. I could hear the others laughing ahead of us, Rei shouting, as we continued speeding towards the island.

My heart sunk at the sight of Makoto close to tears. I don’t really understand how I got so close to him, how I grew to care about him so much in such a short time, but it was killing me, figuratively I guess, to see him like this. And there was nothing I could do until he opened up to me about whatever was bothering him. Or about whatever happened.

I reached over, easing his hand closest to me free of the tight grip it had on his sweatpants. I took it in both of my own, uncurling his balled fist gently and slowly, focusing solely on his hand in mine and on my attempt to make him feel better.

With my new, not actually new, body, our hands were nearly the same size. Makoto’s were probably just a little bigger than mine, but it was still really really…nice. I straightened out his fingers, one by one, and flattened them against one of my hands. They were actually pretty soft, and his fingers were long, slender. He had really nice hands… as far as hands go that is.

The boat jumped again and, whether it was because he wanted to or because it was a reaction, Makoto’s hand gripped mine quickly, our fingers intertwining.

As he gripped my hand like he was holding on for dear life, I couldn’t help but notice the way we were holding hands. Yes, he was holding my hand, but that was not what I was focused on. My Cupid side showed itself as I studied our hands, and I couldn’t help the uneasiness I was feeling.

How do I explain it?

Our hands, they seemed right, but not right. Which was weird for so many reasons, wrong on so many levels, right?

I was a Cupid. How was I supposed to think that holding this mortal’s hand, even if it is Makoto’s, was right? In any way?

But I couldn’t deny my nature. My entire being was telling me that holding his hand was right. That I was meant to be the one to hold him like this; that I was supposed to be the one to comfort him and help him through this.

But that couldn’t be right!

Not to mention that the hands didn’t look right. This wasn’t how it was supposed to look, and I had no idea how I was supposed to know that. I just _knew_ it wasn’t right. One hand, I wasn’t entirely sure which, was too big in this picture.

The image of my actual body flashed through my mind.

Would…would that be a better proportion? My actual hands are much smaller than the ones I have now.

“Isoya? Are you alright?”

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked over at Makoto. His other hand was still gripping his sweatpants tightly, and there seemed to be a light sheen of sweat on his face, but he seemed much more relaxed than he had before. Which, actually, made me feel a lot better.

I nodded, squeezing his hand in emphasis.

He smiled, moving closer to me as the boat continued moving.

A new and overwhelming sense of protection and care and love filled my body and I was both ecstatic and worried. This unfamiliar thing had never happened to me was happening quite consistently and I had no idea what I was supposed to do.

**

The part of the island that we had decided to pitch our tents was pretty much deserted, which, was good for us because it meant we were least likely to be disturbed there. In my opinion, camping kind of sucked for us because there was a resort nearby. The problem was that our team budget could only afford to get one room for Ama-chan and Gou.

So there were three tents being pitched on the beach of where we would be starting practices as an argument was brewing over who gets what tent and who is going to tent with who. The argument was sort of ridiculous to me, so I decided to stay out of it and let them figure it out.

Of course, later I realized that probably wasn’t the best idea because, in the end, Gou ending up pairing us up in a way that she thought would help improve our “team unity” by getting to know each other more and trust each other more. The people sharing the tents were also going to be partners for the swim practices.

So, as the new recruit, I ended up with the captain of the team, Rin.

Well, wasn’t this going to be a fantastic stay?

Alright, it’s not because I didn’t like the guy. That’s actually physically impossible for a Cupid. If we ever experience any negative emotions, we begin to get sick and it gets harder and harder for us to do just about anything until we can get rid of those thoughts and feelings.

Though I won’t deny that for some time when I was attempting to set him up with Makoto, I didn’t like it. But I wouldn’t call that hate or dislike. That was just me feeling out a bad match, that ended up being true.

Also, I’m pretty sure that Rin was still angry with me about his sister and the captain.

Makoto nudged me as I watched Gou argue with Nagisa, who was with Makoto and not Rei like he wanted, and Rin about the arrangements. “Don’t worry about the arrangements. Rin isn’t that bad.”

I rose an eyebrow, still watching the debate across from us.

He chuckled, his hand brushing against mine lightly. The warm energy was sparking again, beginning to grow, and I smiled. “Maybe you’re right, Makoto.”

Makoto nodded. We watched the bickering continue for a few seconds before he spoke again, “We should probably try to break that up. It might get pretty bad seeing that Gou and Rin are siblings.”

We walked over to the rest of the group, ready to break up the debaters, Rin and Nagisa and Gou as Nitori and Rei seemed to just want to stay out of it, when it seemed that Gou came up with a resolution.

“How about this? That last couple of days, you guys can all switch your partners and all that, but only if you all show improvements. In the water and out of it.” She looked at Nagisa and her brother with a firm stare. Gou was obviously not going to budge about the partners she had paired; all of us could see that.

Rin scowled, glancing at me before looking back at his sister, “How is that fair? By that time we may as well stay where we are!”

I tried not to take offense at how vehement Rin was about this. He must just still be mad at me. It can’t be anything too personal; I haven’t done anything to him.

Gou rolled her eyes, holding up a hand to quiet her brother, “Think of it as a reward for working hard. The last few days are just team exercises anyways, so we won’t need partners then.”

Nitori moved to stand beside Makoto and I, trying to avoid the sibling debacle. That surprised me a bit. I wasn’t too close to Nitori and, though Makoto liked him as teammate, it was to my understanding that they weren’t close either. But I suppose it was better than jumping in with the others as Rin and Gou started going at it and Rei was trying to pull Nagisa away from the other two.

“Rin-senpai and Nagisa-san are upset that they didn’t get the partners they wanted.”

“Who did Rin want to be partnered with then?” Makoto asked, peeking around me to see Nitori.

The younger boy shifted his weight from one foot to the other, looking at the ground as he began to blush. “He wanted to be partnered with me,” he murmured, still not looking up at us.

Makoto smiled, his eyes closing adorably at the other’s blush.

I shook my head, turning to watch Nitori wring this hands together. Why was he so embarrassed about this…?

Rin came up to us, his frown softening a bit when his eyes landed on Nitori beside us. “We’re going to go look for a place to eat for dinner. So, we need a few people to stay behind.”

“I’ll stay.”

Nitori and I looked at each other, shocked that we both had the same idea.

Makoto smiled again, “Well, I guess we have our volunteers. Rin will call you to ask what you and Isoya want, Nitori.”

To be honest, I thought Makoto was going to offer to stay and I figured Rin will be going, seeing as he is the captain and wouldn’t be likely to let his sister go off on her own, so I could stay here with Makoto for a little while to relax and make sure he was alright. I suppose my matching skills weren’t the only thing that was off.

Nitori nodded and we watched Makoto and Rin gather the others before walking off in the direction that seemed to be where the town would be.

It was awkward for a few minutes, neither of us quite comfortable enough with the other to really make conversation. We moved around all the bags and extra camping equipment that we brought with us for the nights that we will be cooking with a fire, making sure that it wouldn’t be stolen or lost while we were sleeping and practicing.

“Rin-senpai doesn’t hate you, you know.”

I looked up to see Nitori standing in front of me, a water bottle tight in his grip. He was shifting his weight from foot to foot, something he seemed to do when he was nervous. His silver hair twitched around him from the slight breeze, and his blue eyes seemed to avoid me.

“Um…” Why was he telling me this all of a sudden? I stood up from where I was trying to put away Makoto’s things that he left out. “Thanks. It’s good to know. Especially because I’ll be staying in the same tent with him.”

Nitori nodded, still not looking at me.

It was at awkward times like this I wish someone else were here. Nagisa would have immediately broken the silence with something completely random. Makoto would have also been nice and sweet and said something for each of us to jump into a conversation about. Even Rin would be good here, right now.

“You don’t have to be scared of me, Nitori. I’m not going to bite you,” I mumbled. I sometimes really hated this kind of thing, I didn’t really like talking much in general, and this was just hard for me to do. Cupids weren’t really big on confrontation.

“I…I know. I’m just…well, I’m nervous?”

I couldn’t help it, the entire situation wasn’t funny, but how he was handling it was. Quite the little chatterbox, huh?

I chuckled, nearly choking on my own spit trying to keep it down.

“I- what? What’s funny?”

I coughed, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. “I’m sorry, really. It’s just that I didn’t expect you to be nervous around me of all people.”

Nitori, despite being confused just a few seconds ago, started giggling. “I’m sorry, too. I just think you’re so amazing! You’re swimming! It’s just…you could be as fast as Rin-senpai! And you’ve said you only just started swimming too!”

I could hear the awe in his voice and it only made me want to laugh more. I don’t care for the competition, if I’m honest. I don’t care for the racing or the times or getting stronger. I just want to do it, to feel like I was flying again. I just want to do it with this group of people that I’m starting to actually feel close to. “Thanks, Nitori.” I decided to turn this around; I didn’t want to accidentally say something that would upset him. “But you’re really good also! I would never be able to swim all four styles like you all can.”

“O- oh! It’s really not hard!”

And it was easy to talk to him after that, which is something I didn’t expect by the end of this trip. Nitori was actually more than silver hair and a stuttering statement, and that was really nice to find out before I had to leave. He was actually really nice and considerate. He cared so much for the team and had huge hopes to keep the team going after the prefecturals. He cared a lot for every individual on the team, including Nagisa and I, who haven’t even been a part of the team for very long.

It was a very touching thing to know. Especially, that he thought of Nagisa as a friend, anyone who befriends that little ball of energy should be given a medal. I should know, I think I deserve one. I hardly talk and he tires me out.

By the time the rest of the team made their way back, Nitori and I were laughing at a joke he had just told me and we were working together to make sure that our supplies was stored away in the proper areas.

Makoto smiled, greeting us, and I found myself smiling and greeting him back more enthusiastically than I usually had been. Strange.

Nitori ran up to help Rin with the drinks, smiling up at him.

And I nearly laughed again at the glare Rin shot me before smiling over at Nitori. The difference between the two was nearly comical.

I tilted my head, studying them, my smile sliding off of my face. Was that…?

Nitori smiled widely, his cheeks tinged red as Rin’s lips moved, obviously saying something to him. The wind ruffled Nitori’s silver hair, brushing it over his face and into his eyes. He spluttered, coming to a stop with the drinks in his hand as he tried to blow the hair out of his eyes, blinking hard.

Rin laughed, moving the drinks in his grip and balancing it on his hip and holding them with one arm so he could reach over and brush the hair out of Nitori’s face.

Of course, I didn’t miss the lingering touch on his cheek, a gentle brush with his fingertips against reddening skin.

I blinked. This was it.

I was shaken out of it when Makoto sat beside me, his order of food and mine in both of his hands, a couple of water bottles tucked under his arm. I smiled up at him, thanking him as I took my food gratefully. It was quiet between the two of us for a while, and, without noticing, I found myself leaning into him.

Before I could apologize, he shifted closer to me. Our shoulders brushed and our knees touched at our new proximity. There was a warm feeling pooling in my stomach, and it made me feel anxious and nervous again. Why did this keep happening?

Makoto moved closer to me still, and I couldn’t find it in myself to tell him to stop because I wanted him to get closer. Instead, I shifted a little so we could sit comfortably, side by side. Our legs were stretched out in front of us; thighs, knees, and calves touching. I could feel his warmth. I could smell his shampoo. It made my stomach twist again and my face was starting to get warm.

He reached over, oblivious to my inner turmoil, and tugged on one of my curly strands gently. For some reason, I found myself wishing I had my straight black hair back. “I’m happy to see that you and Nitori are becoming friends,” he whispered.

I nodded, putting food in my mouth and chewed slowly as I stared into the fire Nagisa insisted we make. “Yeah, he’s a nice guy. Good friend.”

I smiled at him, watching his shoulders relax and seeing the smile spread across his face, wide enough to cause his eyes to crinkle. His bright green eyes shined in the firelight and, suddenly, I felt like dancing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry that you all have had to wait so long for me to update this! I feel really bad about that, but I had to really consider what I wanted to do with it after Free! Eternal Summer aired. I'm just going to leave it as it is; the same pairings I had in mind and just finish this story out.
> 
> And there are only a few more chapters left!
> 
> Anyways I hope you enjoyed this chapter! The next one will be out quicker than this one, I already have it all planned out actually. I have a tumblr (hpowllover24 or aramirez24) drop me a line if you wish! Happy readings~


	7. Footprints

“I can’t believe this is how it’s going to be. For the next few weeks, I’m actually stuck with you.”

I sighed, and decided not to say anything as I unwrapped my sleeping bag. It was pointless to try and argue with Rin when he was still being a little upset about something neither of us had chosen. We could, obviously, have chosen different, but neither of us, along with the others, said anything at the time. So it was really everyone’s fault that we were with people we really didn’t want to room with.

“I have to actually stay with you until the end of camp when we actually can move out. This is ridiculous.”

I turned to look at him over my shoulder, watching him glare at his own sleeping bag. He was beginning to get on my last nerves.

It wasn’t as though I wanted to be stuck with him the entire night, or the majority of the camp either. But it wasn’t as if we could just move around wherever we wished now.

Or could we?

Ama-chan and Gou would be at the nearby hotel, wouldn’t they? So they wouldn’t know if we were going to switch around in the middle of the night and room with others that she hadn’t initially assigned us. Especially if we were going to be training with our assigned partner during the day anyways.

“What if we switched?” I asked.

Rin grunted, obviously only half listening to me. “What?”

I looked over at Rin and raised an eyebrow, trying not to let my annoyance visible. Amazing, really, how I seemed to be experiencing the entire spectrum of human emotions with these people. I regained my cool composure before responding. “Why don’t we just switch? We can all just switch tents when Gou leaves every night? We have to wake up before she and Ama-chan get here every morning anyways. So we won’t get caught.”

Rin stared, or glared, at me as if he was trying to figure out a retort to argue with me. I don’t honestly know why he would, but maybe he just didn’t like me that much to actually want to argue with me.

“I guess that could work,” Rin murmured.

I smirked; with Rin agreeing with me I knew he was going to be on board. “Good.”

Rin nodded, “So then Ai can come here, Nagisa can move into the same tent with Rei, and you with Makoto.”

I nodded, starting to grab my things to leave. As I grabbed the tent flap to step out, Rin grabbed my forearm.

I started, freezing in my place, one foot out of the tent and one still inside. His grip was strong, a forceful pull to it that startled me. I looked down at Rin, the slight difference in height gave me the advantage, but his expression didn’t change, and, I’m surprised to say that I was actually a little intimidated.

“You know I don’t really know you and that’s fine with me, but Makoto seems to trust you,” his grip tightened around my arm. “He just went through a huge loss. If he gets hurt like that again, I don’t think he would be able to get back out from it,” he murmured, turning his face away from me.

The sorrowful expression was kind of hard to miss.

I didn’t say anything as he walked by me and moved to Rei and Nitori’s tent to tell them about our plan.

This guy Makoto lost…he must have been really incredibly important to everyone else, too. Not a soul mate kind of importance, but enough to resonate with everyone. There’s no way that Rin would just come up to me like that just because of Makoto loosing someone he was in love with. Or maybe he was that good of a friend?

Was I really harming Makoto? I know that I had helped him with his parents and with the team, but in the long run, was I just building him up with the idea of a new friend?

No, he couldn’t think that. He has Rin and Rei and Nitori. And he has his family. I know that Makoto lost a friend, but we haven’t gotten that close in these past few months…right?

I snapped out of it when I heard Nitori starting to move from his tent next door. Climbing out of the tent quickly, I made my way over to Makoto who was staring at Rin helping Nitori with his things. “Did Rin kick you our or something?”

I gave him a small smile, trying not to laugh at what sounded so much like an accusation at his closest friend. “No, it was my idea.”

Makoto cocked his head at me, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion as Nagisa climbed out. “What?”

I grinned over at Nagisa, “Grab your things and move over to Rei’s tent.”

Without questions, Nagisa grabbed his things and practically ran to Rei’s tent, some of his things falling out of his bag behind him. Rei started yelling at him to pick up his clothes before sand got into it and made it uncomfortable.

I moved into Makoto’s tent quickly. Makoto looked at Nagisa before following me into the tent, “What’s going on Isoya?”

For a second, I didn’t register he was calling me. It was silly, but I was beginning to feel so at ease with him that I nearly expected him to call me by my actual name. We knew each other, didn’t we? He should just know.

_This isn’t real; it’s only temporary._

“We just wanted to room with different people. I said my idea and Rin agreed,” I acted nonchalant, but I was happy to be with Makoto, happier than I wanted to let myself feel.

This would have been easier if I would have said something about it to begin with. Or any of us for that matter. Stupid.

I laid out my sleeping bag and was trying, so much harder than I thought was actually necessary, to not be so conscious of his movements beside me. Makoto moved his bags to accommodate the two of us. We were both the largest guys on the team, so it may actually be a tight fit for both of us in here. Yet, there was something telling me neither of us minded.

“Hmm,” Makoto looked at the pile of bags in the middle of the floor that pushed the sleeping bags against the edges of the tent, nearly up the nylon walls. He picked up the bags, the acting barrier between our sleeping bags, and moved them to the top, shorter edge of the tent. He then slid our bags closer together and away from the walls. “Our feet may touch the opening of the tent and we may knock against the walls a few times, but this way we have more room.”

He looked over at me and smiled, and I was suddenly nervous about staying the night with him in such a small, confined space. I looked away from him trying to reassure myself. _It is just Makoto. You’ve spent the past couple of months with him, in the same bedroom. This is the same thing, even if the bedroom was a bit more spacious._

“It’s fine,” I murmured, moving to sit on my sleeping bag.

Makoto came over, still smiling, and sat beside me.

I coughed slightly, trying to hide my sudden embarrassment. Why am I so damn nervous all of a sudden?

These constant, silent worries were beginning to tire me out.

Our knees knocked against each other. “So why did you and Rin suddenly decide this?” Makoto asked, playing with a loose string on the bag.

I shrugged. “Rin waned to room with Nitori. We know Nagisa wanted to room with Rei. And I wanted to room with you.”

The ‘oh’ that fell past his lips was quiet and a little perkier than the usual Makoto. His eyes fell to the ground and his hands moved to his lap.

Was his face turning red?

“If Gou catches us…”

I shook my head, quickly dismissing his worry, “She won’t.”

Makoto looked up at me, still uncertain with our choices. “It just seems so…childish to do this now that she’s assigned us partners.”

I wanted to laugh. Of course, Makoto, no matter how much he didn’t actually mind it, he would still want to follow the rules so none of us would get in trouble with Gou. He was such a good student.

I decided to try and ease his worries. I smiled, my hand falling on his knee gently. “Makoto. Relax.”

And Makoto did, a lax smile slipping onto his face in response.

I grinned back at him, patting his knee. “So you excited for camp?” Why am I talking so much? And my cheeks hurt?

Makoto’s smile fell, and he turned away from me. Worry and concern flashed in my mind and I suddenly felt like a complete idiot.

“Makoto…I’m sorry…I-”

“It’s fine, Isoya.” Makoto fell back on my sleeping bag, starring up at the roof of our tent. His green eyes were set, focused on something I couldn’t see, and to be honest, I was surprised he wasn’t crying. “It’s not that I’m not happy being here. Because I really am. Being here with you and Rin and everyone…it’s a good thing, and I’ve learn to appreciate life more.”

Makoto sighed, closing his eyes and breathing in slowly, relaxing, obviously done with talking about it.

I accepted his wish and tried not to roll my eyes as I leaned back on my hands and stared at his face, at the details that I found I enjoyed noticing.

I couldn’t help it. I’m a Cupid. I can appreciate when someone is attractive; I do all the time when I notice amazing matches.

But Makoto was different. His brown hair was messy because he kept pushing his hand through it. His strong, tall stature that was filling the entire length of the tent. And his green eyes that were finally blinking over at me, no longer set with a hard determination but with a slight happiness.

I wanted to reach over and take his hand from messing up his hair. I wanted to mess his hair up myself and run my fingers through those brown locks. I wanted to hold his hand again, but this time it was just because we wanted to hold hands.

I wanted to kiss him.

We weren’t saying anything; we were just staring at each other. The ocean could be heard outside, but it was drowning in our silence.

He sat up, leaning in towards me. I felt warm, his warmth was radiating off of him, it was his warmth, and I could feel my face heating up at our proximity. Was he too close? What was even considered too close when I wanted him closer?

He reached over and tugged on one of my curls, the same way that made my tongue feel thick and my stomach flip. His smile as he ran his hand through my hair only made it worse but I didn’t move, I couldn’t even breathe. I wished my hair was back to normal though. Why did it have to be completely different?

Makoto’s hand traveled through my hair again, as his green eyes bore into my own blue ones. “I like your hair, Isoya.”

Two parts of started screaming in my head.

_See, it’s fine! He loves it!_

_But it’s not me; it’s not mine! Would he like my hair, my own hair?_

His hand traveled from my hair and down my neck before holding my chin loosely between his thumb and fingers. His touch was, both, gentle and firm.

I think my heart stopped.

“And your eyes. They seem so natural, soft…familiar.”

_My eyes. They’re my eyes!_

His thumb moved slowly to the corner of my mouth, tracing an imaginary trail from there to my jaw. All I could do was feel his thumb and focus on his eyes. My mind was scattered, I couldn’t concentrate on anything, and I seemed to have forgotten everything else. That Makoto was mortal and I was a Cupid. That I had a deadline approaching. That I wasn’t _supposed_ to be able to feel like this anymore.

The sound of the tent flap being ripped open made us both jump. We were still incredibly close, but the spell seemed to have broken. I didn’t know how I was supposed to feel about that.

Nagisa jumped in, scanning the tent’s ground quickly, “Ah, sorry Mako-chan, Isoya-chan. I can’t find my shirt!”

Makoto, the ever patient soul, moved to where our bags were and picked up a shirt to give to Nagisa.

What was that? What had I been doing?

I took a deep breath, trying to calm down before I completely lost it. Alright, so maybe I cared for Makoto more than I thought I did. But…how?

Cupids can’t experience love! Yes, we can experience happiness and love for others, but for ourselves loving…being _in_ love? This…it can’t be possible.

Makoto sat down after Nagisa left, but not as close as he was before and I tried not to feel disheartened by that. I should feel relief, not like a young human falling…

No, I won’t say it.

It was silent for a few moments. The awkward tension in the tent was ridiculous, at least to me.

I fell back on my sleeping bag, stretching out and tucking my arms behind my head.

Makoto grinned down at me as I blinked up at him. “Are you going to join me?” I asked, patting the space beside me before settling back into my position.

He chuckled gently, lying down beside me slowly, as if he was gaging my reaction. Which was silly. If what had happened bothered me, I would have told him. Or he probably would be able to tell before I even said anything.

Makoto seemed to catch onto my intentions because he finally relaxed into the sleeping bag. Neither of us said anything and there was silence again in the tent. We simply stared upwards.

And it was nice. Normally, I would rather be around no one, flying on my own and enjoying solitude. But being back in the mortal world, being with Makoto, was different. I enjoyed being with people now, enjoyed laughing with everyone, even if I didn’t talk much.

It was strange. I can’t remember my time before being a Cupid, but I feel like I would have liked being alone then also, otherwise I wouldn’t like it so much as a Cupid. I preferred it that way.

I looked over at Makoto. “Are you happy?”

He smiled slightly, his hand coming up to touch the corner of his mouth as he thought.

“I suppose you could say I am.”

It was quiet again as we fell asleep on our sleeping bags.

It wasn’t long before I woke up to the sound of muffled sobbing. The tent was bathed in darkness. I couldn’t see anything around me.

But I could hear him beside me.

I reached out blindly, all of my senses suddenly alert, trying to find Makoto in the darkness.

I finally grabbed his shirt, which caused him to jump and try to pull out of my grasp. “Makoto. Makoto. What’s wrong?”

He froze. I could tell he didn’t want to face me because I held onto his shirt without him moving. “Ah…I’m sorry for waking you, Isoya.”

Even through his apology, I could hear his sniffling and small hiccups. Stupid.

I inched over to him until my knees his legs. Again he jumped and tried to move away from me. I patted him reassuringly until I felt him relax again.

Slowly, he turned around until we were facing each other. I searched in the dark until I found his hand that he took hold of quickly and squeezed. “What happened?”

The muffled response of “nightmare” drifted over to me.

I pulled him closer, tucking his head beneath my chin.

Immediately, the floodgates opened. Makoto began to cry and he continued to do so for what seemed to be an eternity. Definitely much too long for someone such as Makoto.

It physically pained me to have someone like Makoto crying in my arms. Crying as brokenly as he was should not be served for people like him.

I said nothing as I held his hand and kept him close to me. His tears stained my soul as well as my shirt. Each sob was a punch in the stomach.

He cried until it became streams of tears and then it was merely hiccups. Even as he calmed I held him close, I needed him to understand I was here for him as well. He was not alone.

“I…I am sorry, Isoya.”

I shook my head, hoping he understood.

It was silent again, my hand released his and I began to run it through his hair, in an attempt to calm him.

He sighed eventually, “I don’t believe I should have come on this trip.”

My fingers continued to comb through his hair, “Why?”

He seemed to burrow further into my neck as his arms circled my waist. My arms wrapped around him protectively as he gathered himself.

“It has to do with Ha- ah…I can’t even say his name without feeling pain.”

Again, I shook my head. He did not have to say who it was. I understood.

“A…anyways. It’s just…I dreamt of that day. I hate thinking of it, especially because I remember it so vividly, but just being here – around the water, with everyone – it makes me miss him so much…”

His arms tightened around me again. He whispered into my chest so low I was thankful there were no noises around us so I could hear him. “I would hate to loose anyone else.”

My heart clenched again. _I- I have to tell him_.

I couldn’t allow him any more suffering. Not when I could at least attempt something to aid him.

“It’s why I was scared on the boat. It’s why I’m scared now. Loosing anyone else to the water would be terrible. I don’t- I can’t-”

I could feel his tears against my neck, burning my skin.

“It won’t happen.” I buried my face in his hair, forgetting my problems. _Makoto._ “Makoto, I won’t let it happen.”

That sentence held so many meanings, so many promises, but I could not allow this human to be sad any longer. He was much too young, so full of life to be so sad.

He seemed to start relaxing again at my words. Finally, he whispered groggily, “Thank you Isoya.”

I smiled and, without thinking, I kissed the top of his head as he drifted off to sleep again.

I remained there for a short while, waiting for Makoto to fall into a deep sleep. I couldn’t hear much of anything over the pounding in my ears. Was that my heart beating…or his?

When he finally fell asleep completely, I knew because he turned to sleep on his back, I removed myself from his hold gently. I needed to get outside. I needed fresh air.

I tried not to seem so frantic as I climbed out of the tent, even though my mind was going crazy and my thoughts were rushing through my head. _What was I doing? What was going on? I wasn’t supposed to be doing. This is completely off of my…what do I call it? My mission? This was not going right, nothing was going right. This camp was a mistake. Coming here was a bad idea. I should have just…just accepted the Underworld and-_

My mindless rambling stuttered to a halt when I made it to the beach. I don’t think I could breathe properly, which is ironic because that’s what I came out to do. I was stunned, amazed, and an overwhelming sense of calm filled me.

It seemed so…beautiful.

The ocean was calm and moving gently along the shoreline and against the rocks. The night sky was painted with constellations, the stars shinning brightly among a dark velvet blanket of sky. There were few clouds, but they drifted lazily, causing the stars to blink in and out of existence. The ocean breeze wrapped around me, tousling my hair and ruffling my clothes with its embrace. I loved being near the ocean wind; it was always the most relaxing to me. I closed my eyes and, for a moment, I felt like I was flying again.

It was amazing to see and experience such beauty when I felt so much confusion and when I was so unsure. It was surreal.

I made my way to the ocean, unafraid of its depths or its power. Nothing could do any harm to me…I was already dead.

I walked through the water on the beach, my feet sinking into the soft sand, leaving footprints behind me. I took deep breaths of the clean ocean air; attempts to calm my mind, ease my worries, and brush away the possibility of hurt.

I was worried, and it didn’t feel good at all, especially because I didn’t know what to do. I was beginning to feel sick to my stomach. I couldn’t just leave Makoto here, and expect him to be okay. Could I? Was it really that simple?

There…there was something more than what I was seeing between us. I- I was caring too much for him now.

The images of Nitori and Gou and Rei and even Rin flashed through my mind.

I cared too much for everyone. I don’t know how I was going to be able to just leave everyone after spending so much time and effort with them.

I didn’t just know these humans, these people. I got to _actually_ know them. I knew their likes and dislikes. I knew their fears and loves. I knew that they wanted to win and advance more than I…more than I wanted my wings.

They loved each other and they loved this club. I had never seen so much love and care in one place as I had with them, and, as a Cupid, that was saying something.

I sighed, watching my hand open and close in front of me with the wind. My only hope was that I was going to be able to compete, to help them advance.

“Isoya-senpai?”

I turned quickly, throwing up water around me as I tried to keep my balance in my sudden spin.

Nitori stood there looking up at me. “Nitori?”

“Ah…y-yes?”

“Um…” This was something completely unexpected. I didn’t think I would see anyone out here at this hour of the night.

“I’m sorry… I had an argument with Rin-senpai…I didn’t mean to run into you out here!”

I rose an eyebrow, studying him.

By the looks of his expression, it bothered him a lot…which wasn’t good because they- aren’t they the next couple?

Why couldn’t I be sure? My hand clenched behind my back. Why was it suddenly just getting hard to read people?

My head was beginning to ache and I was starting to feel disorientated. This wasn’t going to help; this wasn’t going to work if I couldn’t keep my head steady.

I cleared my throat, “Is there anything I can help with?” I tried to go with politeness, hopefully we could figure something out and it wasn’t already too bad.

“No…it’s nothing very- nothing worth worrying about really…” he trailed off.

There was something off of what he was saying, it wasn’t anything extremely worrying, I don’t believe. But it was a, what we Cupid’s call, a lover’s quarrel sign. They were ready to be together, they just needed to be pushed in the right direction.

“Well, you know what I think you should do?”

“What?”

I looked him right in the eye and said, “Just grab him and kiss him.”

Nitori nearly jumped at the suggestion, probably because he thought it was too abrupt. I could tell that Nitori wasn’t an abrupt or impulsive person, but this was something that needed to be done, something that he should have done a long time ago.

“But…! R- Rin-senpai doesn’t care for me like that! And, well I don’t like him, or… That is um…”

I chuckled, placing a hand on his shoulder gently. “Nitori. It’s very obvious that you two care for each other. More than friends.” I patted his shoulder, recognizing the worry and fear in his eyes.

“You know,” I started, looking down at my feet. The water rushed over our feet before being pulled back, the tide was gentle, nothing more than a tickle of cool water before it pulled back. “Life is beautiful. Acting on impulse or thought. Laughing. Loving. Its all wonderful.”

I pulled my foot off the ground as the tide rushed back out to join the body of water. My footprint was a horrible blemish on the smooth surface of, otherwise, undisrupted sand. “And when something bad happens, it leaves a hole in us. It seems horrible and deep at first. But life keeps going.”

The water moved back over our feet again, covering my fresh footprint. When the tide pulled away again, the outline of my print was still visible, but not as deep as it was before. “See? We heal. We get better. Even after everything seems like a horrible, unfixable mess. And, eventually…” The water crept in again before flowing away. “It’s nothing but a distant memory.”

I looked up at Nitori, my heart feeling lighter already. My head was clear and my smile was wide on my face.

_Makoto…_

“I don’t think I fully understand?”

I laughed, ruffling his hair. I suddenly felt so carefree and happy. I didn’t even know I could talk to someone so much. It was a strange feeling, but I felt livelier, and much better. “What I’m trying to say, Nitori, is try. Even if you think the worst will happen, you’re strong enough to get through it.” I looked into his eyes confidently, “But I don’t think it will.”

“I…well.” Nitori nodded, a new light in his eyes. Determination? “Th- Thank you, Isoya-senpai!”

He ran back to his tent, as fast as he could in the sand. I smiled. Solving two problems in one night was definitely a record for me. I looked across the ocean and at the stars as I made my way back to my tent. I would be able to do this; I just have to tell Makoto everything.

It may not be while we’re here at camp, I don’t want to push too much information on him when he’s worrying about the team and pushing his fear down, but I would. Soon. And, I think, that it may hurt, it might actually hurt a lot. But on the off chance, the slight chance that I could make Makoto feel better and maybe help ease his, and my own, pain when I leave, then it was definitely worth a try.

When I looked behind me, I saw the water filling my footprints.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay update~ high school boys being such dorky high schoolers! ^^
> 
> So today on tumblr it’s actually MakoHaru day! I really wanted to have this up and done for today. (makoharuday on tumblr y'all) Anywho~ we have a good handful of chapters left. It was actually really funny because I had to cut this one short. So there’s going to be an extra chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter~ I do have a tumblr (hpowllover24) if you want to drop by~
> 
> Happy readings!


	8. New Bonds, Strong Bonds

Their little switch between tent partners didn’t last very long. Gou found out a few days later and had them switch back to the original tents she had assigned them. And she was merciless about the punishment.

Rin argued about how everyone was enjoying where they were now, that all six of us liked who we were rooming with now. There was no point in switching everyone now.

Gou didn’t want to hear it though. She was set on the fact that everyone needed to have a certain partner; that we needed to become a team by spending time with someone that we spend least time with…if that made any sense.

So we were forced to go back to our previous tents, missing half a day of practice because of it. And, I was forced to put up with all of Rin’s complaints that came with it.

Though it wasn’t as bad as I thought.

Rin pulled me back into the tent while we were still moving things around. I stopped, looking at him with questioning eyes and raised an eyebrow.

Rin was scratching the back of his neck nervously, a scowl on his face as he glared at the ground. The strands of hair that was escaped his hair tie were falling into his eyes and he kept moving them with the back of his hand.

“I just…wanted to say- um, thanks? Ai, he told me what you did. And, well…yeah,” he trailed off, still not looking at me.

I could feel my lips lifting, I wanted to smile and cheer. So did that mean…?

“Please don’t smile at me, it doesn’t suit you.”

I laughed at that, and Rin grinned as well. He knocked his knuckles against my arm playfully. “We should finish before Gou gets mad again,” he grunted, walking past me to get out of the tent.

I watched him leave, but didn’t follow him.

So then, did that mean they did match up? That I helped another couple find each other? Did I really manage to match them and get another couple out of the way?

My heart was beating so fast and hard that I could practically hear it in my ears, pounding away as I looked at my things that I had dragged in. Would it be in my bag? Or would it be in my sleeping bag? It had to be here somewhere.

I looked in my sleeping bag first to see if there was something tucked away there. Nothing.

I looked to the opening of the tent, which was covered by the tent flaps so I was obscured slightly. I could hear the others outside, talking about moving more of things. Nagisa’s cries were loud and whiny, crying about something he had misplaced and needed help finding from the others. Whether or not this was true, the little Cupid was buying me some time that I needed.

I dug through my bag, searching for something that didn’t belong.

There, tucked away in an extra pair of jammers that I brought, was a little white card that I don’t remember packing.

I pulled it out, glancing at the opening of the tent again. The opening was still covered and I heard everyone searching for Nagisa’s missing items.

I knelt down on my sleeping bag and stared at the card. Slowly, my breath failing to fall past my lips, I opened the card.

Like before, Goro popped out and smiled up at me.

“Good job, Haru! You’ve successfully matched another couple of soul mates together! You’ll only need to do one more in the coming months and that should be easy for someone of your caliber.”

His expression turned slightly serious, a worried frown set on his features. I cocked my head, my eyebrows furrowing at the sudden change.

He sighed, looking down at the clipboard he always had with him before looking back up at me. “Haru, I understand the possibilities of becoming friends with the people you’re around now. I also understand there are possibilities of you becoming invested with these people because that’s the nature of being a Cupid. But understand, it’s nearly impossible for you to extract yourself from something you invest too much of yourself in. So be careful and don’t-”

“Isoya?”

I jumped, stuffing the card back into the bottom of my bag, cutting Goro off before the tent flap flipped open.

Makoto walked in, his green eyes landing on me on the floor of the tent. “Are you alright, Isoya?”

I nodded, placing my bag beside my sleeping bag slowly before looking back up at him. His brown hair looked windswept and a tad bit messy. The smile on his face was wide for someone who came in to check on a friend, and the corners of his eyes were crinkling, which somehow made his green eyes seem more charming.

He offered me his hand, and I took it. A rush of familiarity ran through me, in a near crippling process much like before. I stared at our clasped hands quietly, studying them. Again, I could tell that they were right, but not. My heart was racing in my chest and I breathed slowly to try and calm it. Why, _why_ was this just so familiar?

I looked up at Makoto, who seemed to have noticed nothing. He smiled wider and pointed over his shoulder with his free hand, “Should we go then?”

I nodded, squeezing his hand briefly before letting it go and following him out of the tent.

My head was spinning, like Makoto pulled me up far too quickly and the blood just stopped flowing to my head in this larger body.

What was Goro trying to say? I’m not entirely sure that his message will still be there for me when I got back. I hoped so. But with the chance of trying to keep Cupids quiet, I doubt that it will.

And I couldn’t for the life of me, or existence, whichever, figure out why Makoto was just so familiar. It was everything about him that left me with an empty feeling when I wasn’t with him, which really bothered me.

I yearned to have him near, and after the recent days, the thought of leaving him, just him, made my heart clench and my stomach twist in the worst ways. I didn’t even think that we were becoming _that_ close.

“Isoya?”

I looked up at Makoto, smiling at me with the warmth of a million suns. And I didn’t know where I was or what was happening around me. All I knew was that this boy in front of me was all I cared to see right now.

And I followed him blindly.

* * *

The rest of the training camp went by surprisingly fast. And, to be honest, this is one of the best experiences I’ve ever had.

I never found out what Goro was trying to say, the card slipped from my mind as soon as Makoto came to the tent to get me. I haven’t looked in my bag to see if it was still there, and every time I thought about it, it was too late to check because nearly everyone was asleep and I was exhausted.

Everyday was amazing. Swimming was just something else. I felt like I was flying, but had a different feel from my wings on my back. But everyday, I longed to be in the ocean again. I wanted to feel the water hugging me as I sliced my hand through the water and pushed myself through the hole. It was always as special as the first time. Some nights I found myself dreaming that I was flying again, but most nights I was swimming.

On top of that, there was everyone else. This was strange for me. I was used to being alone; I preferred isolation than being a part of social crowd.

Despite his occurring, annoying presence, Nagisa was nice to have around, even while swimming. He had all of us constantly amused with his antics and the way he poked fun at Rei. He just got along with everyone so easily, which has always been how Nagisa was. As far as I knew, at least. But his jokes during training kept everyone happy through the intense work.

Rei was also amusing because of his constant need to find the beauty in anything and his always-logical responses. It was strange to think Rei would think so logically and I could, for a lack of better words, stand to be around him. Though I believe this is more personal than I will probably admit. As a Cupid, we really act on our feelings. So it was very peculiar to see Nagisa so attached to Rei. The two were complete opposites, but they got on well.

Nitori has also been nice to get to know more about. His dedication to the team to be better for the team is extremely admirable. I can’t recall someone who worked so hard to better themselves for the group instead of for themselves.

And because of Nitori, I’ve actually gotten to know Rin better. This has definitely been easier on the both of us as tent mates. Though we still argues a lot. I can say I never argue so much with one person as I have with him. And sometimes it was over small stupid things. Actually…I think that’s all we argued about. Usually, soon after, Nitori and Makoto would come in and separate us.

But besides the arguments, which never hurt me after (I find this odd because Cupids, by nature, can’t handle feelings such as anger or annoyance so easily), Rin and I actually get along very well. He’s very expressive and I’m not, so he doesn’t like my lack of response, but he can get a reaction out of me…somehow.

And of course, there was Makoto. The one who was there to always pull me out of the water. The one who was there to help me find my footing and make my way around the beach and tents when I got lost in the water. The one who pulled me away from Rin when we started arguing.

There were several times during the camp, when the team had a brief chance to relax after dinner and before bed, that Makoto and I would just walk along the shoreline, alone. I found myself looking forward to these brief times alone, because then it was just me and Makoto and everything seemed right with the world.

We would talk about everything and nothing, watching the water crawl up and cover our feet and footprints. We would find sand dollars and small seashells and show them to each other. He would giggle if I accidentally picked up some small crab, and I would beam at the sound of his laugh, trying to get him to laugh as much as I could after that.

There would be few times where we would hold hands. They were very rare. Most of the time they were because, while he started talking, I would start to drift towards the water and he would catch me before I could get calf deep.

But there were those very occasional brushes of skin and the blushes from his cheeks as he tried to ignore it by continuing talking or talking slightly louder than was necessary on such a quiet beach.

Those were the times when I would smile and reach for his hand and intertwine our fingers together, chuckling at how cute he was being. Though I would never tell him that.

I could also notice how holding his hand would relax him immensely. He would smile more, laugh more, when we would hold hands while walking along the beach.

I couldn’t think about my duties or worrying about finding one more couple to match. I couldn’t think about my wings and that I missed them. I couldn’t think about my deadline. I couldn’t even think coherently. Not with Makoto around. Not that I would want it any other ways.

And before I knew it, training camp was nearly over and we were given the opportunity to switch our tent mates because we have “successfully created strong bonds within the team,” but only on the last night, because we had tried to trick Gou earlier. But nonetheless, for the third time this camp, we switched tents, and I happily moved back to Makoto’s tent as he was helping Nagisa leave.

“Rin wasn’t _that_ bad, was he?”

I shook my head, laying out my sleeping bag, “No, but he’s not you.”

I grinned when I saw his face flush red, his eyes falling to the ground. I thought I had gone too far, but I could see his lips twitching upwards with the hint of a smile.

I fell onto my sleeping bag, exhausted after the last day of hard training. Gou had insisted to go as hard as we could on the last day, to ensure we actually got all of our training in and that we had increased our stamina. What ever the case may be, I was exhausted and didn’t want to do much more.

Makoto pulled his sleeping bag up beside me and sat down. “Do you feel like you’ve improved, Isoya?”

I nodded, staring up at the ceiling of the tent. I did feel like I improved, and I tried not to dwell on the fact that I wouldn’t be needing it for much longer.

“Good! I think we all did really well during this time period. We seemed to really build up on our stamina. Everyone seems to have gotten faster and stronger with their strokes. The technique is beginning to grow even more solid than it had before. And, Gou was right, our team seems to be closer. Which of course is a good th-”

I grabbed Makoto’s arm and pulled him down beside me, a squeak falling past his lips as his head landed on my chest.

I smirked and wrapped my arms around him and pulled him to me as close as I could, muffling his shouts against my chest. “I’m sorry, Makoto. You’ll have to speak up, I can’t hear you.”

Makoto tried to push away from me but he couldn’t; I had one of his arms pinned to his side and he was laughing too much to try and do anything to stop me.

Finally, after a few more moments of struggle, I let him go. Makoto was gasping for air and still curled up next to my side.

I looked over at him and the smile on his face was huge; brighter than I’d ever seen it. I could feel my own smile growing. His green eyes dancing as he looked up at me, “What was that for?”

I tucked my face into his hair, feeling the warmth spread across my cheeks. How could he do that to me with one look?

“I wanted you to stop…”

“Oh! Well, you could have just said that you wanted me to stop talking, Isoya.”

“No,” I muttered. I could hear it in his voice, he was thinking entirely the wrong thing. “I wanted you to stop worrying about everyone else and just relax.”

“Oh,” Makoto murmured.

Before I could say anything else, he wiggled closer to me, tucking his head beneath my chin.

I froze, my heart beating wildly in my chest as my eyes widened. I didn’t know what to do. One of my arms was still pinned beneath his body and the other one just hovered in the air above him.

I heard him yawn and he wrapped his arms around me, burrowing his face into my chest. “Thank you, Isoya,” he whispered.

Before I could loose my nerve, I wrapped my other arm around him and pulled him closer to me.

Makoto sighed against me, and I shivered. I wasn’t too close to him, was I?

No, we’re fine where we are.

This was quite different from the last time we were this close, and it was quite comfortable. And, it was Makoto, and he was happy.

As by my instinct, I ran my fingers through his hair. The small action was soothing to me, and him, it seemed, as he nestled further into my embrace. I sighed happily.

Falling asleep was easy, not as hard as I thought it would be, and Makoto was beside me, wrapped in my arms. We were too happy, too carefree, to care that we were going to fall asleep like this. And I was more than fine with that.

* * *

The sky was a vivid blue, cloudless, and the breeze carried through my black hair, ruffling it and causing it to brush across my face. The cool water hugged my body, save my shoulders and head that I hadn’t yet submerged because I was enjoying the sun and the breeze.

“Haru-chan.”

I turned to my right, following the beautiful sound of the tinkling giggle that wrapped around me and seemed to pull me closer to where it was coming from.

Makoto sat on the edge of the pool, his jeans were rolled up around his calves so he could submerge his feet. He smiled at me, the corners of his green eyes crinkling as I reached out to take his hand.

I played with his fingers as I stood between his legs, simply relishing in the fact that I was here with Makoto.

Drops of water rand down Makoto’s wrists to his fingertips because of the water I had on my hands and I stared at them, tuning out the world around us. Nothing mattered but him. He was here in front of me, smiling and happy. His green eyes were bright and completely focused on me as I looked up at him.

My breath was stolen from me. The sun created a halo behind him and cast shadows across his face that emphasized his beautiful, breathtaking eyes.

“Haru-chan?”

“Huh?” I grunted, obviously not paying attention and my cheeks heating up slightly at the response.

That beautiful giggle was heard again and I replayed the sound over and over again in my head as Makoto reached up to put a cool hand against my cheek. He smiled, leaning down slightly and I could see him better without the sun being in my eyes.

He rested his forehead against the top of my head and I closed my eyes and grabbed his wrist. His entire being was assaulting my senses. I could practically feel his smile as he continued to bury his face in my hair.

I pulled away from him, looking at his bright smile and wide green eyes. I could see the light reflecting off the pool water and shinning in his eyes. It was breath taking and I didn’t want to look away.

But I did.

“Haru-chan?”

My eyes slid down to his lips and I could hear my heart beating in my ears. I stood as tall as I could to reach him. Makoto, thankfully, seemed to understand what I wanted and leaned down.

Kissing Makoto was something indescribable. It was soft and gentle and happy and I could feel myself getting lost, the world sliding out of focus around us.

Makoto slide his hand to the back of my neck, keeping me where I was, though I couldn’t see myself going anywhere. My arms wrapped around him and my hands slid up his back. I could feel his muscles beneath my hand, straining from being at such a low angle.

I pulled away, his hand keeping me from going far, and his breath was on my face and I couldn’t think because his eyes were right there, consuming my vision. “Makoto…I, I-”

He smiled and brushed his lips against mine and my mouth went dry at the simple action. “I know.” And his lips were on mine again and I was more than happy with that..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy birthday Makoto!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter~ all the fluffy bums for today haha and, yes, this was part of the story originally. I just had really good timing I guess! There's only a few more chapters left! I can't wait to write the rest of the story out. Until next time! ^^


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